# CVE-2018-20817: Memory corruption in n/a

> Remote attackers can execute arbitrary code on the target machine by sending a malicious Steam authentication request due to a missing size check.

- **Severity:** Critical 9.8 (`CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 19 Apr 2019
- **Updated:** 5 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-jphr-rfwm-72w3

## What is CVE-2018-20817?

CVE-2018-20817 is a critical memory corruption vulnerability in n/a, published on 19 Apr 2019. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

SV_SteamAuthClient in various Activision Infinity Ward Call of Duty games before 2015-08-11 is missing a size check when reading authBlob data into a buffer, which allows one to execute code on the remote target machine when sending a steam authentication request. This affects Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, Call of Duty: Ghosts, Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, Call of Duty: Black Ops 1, and Call of Duty: Black Ops 2.

Weakness: CWE-119 (Improper Restriction of Operations within the Bounds of a Memory Buffer)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2018-20817?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Activision Call of Duty\.

## How do I fix CVE-2018-20817?

No fix has been published for CVE-2018-20817 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2018-20817 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2018-20817 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2018-20817 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2018-20817 is a critical memory corruption vulnerability in n/a, published on 19 Apr 2019. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2018-20817 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: n/a. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-20817/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-20817/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2018-20817
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2018-20817
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2018-20817

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-20817/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.