# CVE-2018-4868: Denial of service in n/a

> Remote attackers can cause denial of service via excessive memory allocation in Exiv2 by providing a crafted file.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.5 (`CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** A user has to click or open something
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 3 Jan 2018
- **Updated:** 5 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-8x93-7gj9-73c3

## What is CVE-2018-4868?

CVE-2018-4868 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Exiv2 Exiv2, published on 3 Jan 2018. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.

### Official description

The Exiv2::Jp2Image::readMetadata function in jp2image.cpp in Exiv2 0.26 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (excessive memory allocation) via a crafted file.

Weakness: CWE-770 (Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2018-4868?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Exiv2 Exiv2.

## How do I fix CVE-2018-4868?

Upgrade to a fixed version.

## Is CVE-2018-4868 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2018-4868 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Exiv2 Exiv2

- [CVE-2023-44398](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-44398/): Out-of-bounds write in exiv2 (high 8.8)
- [CVE-2019-9143](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-9143/): Denial of service in n/a (high 8.8)
- [CVE-2019-9144](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-9144/): Denial of service in n/a (high 8.8)
- [CVE-2018-14046](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-14046/): Memory corruption in n/a (high 8.8)
- [CVE-2017-12955](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-12955/): Memory corruption in n/a (high 8.8)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2018-4868 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2018-4868 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Exiv2 Exiv2, published on 3 Jan 2018. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2018-4868 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Exiv2 Exiv2. 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-2018-4868/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-4868/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2018-4868
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2018-4868
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2018-4868

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-4868/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.