# CVE-2018-5742: An oversight while backporting a feature leads to an assertion failure in buffer.c:420

> A backporting error in Red Hat's BIND9 causes an assertion failure, allowing attackers to crash the DNS server and cause denial of service.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.9 (`CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 30 Oct 2019
- **Updated:** 17 Sep 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-r4vj-82q4-crg5, RHSA-2019:0194

## What is CVE-2018-5742?

CVE-2018-5742 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Isc Bind, published on 30 Oct 2019. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

While backporting a feature for a newer branch of BIND9, RedHat introduced a path leading to an assertion failure in buffer.c:420. Affects RedHat versions bind-9.9.4-65.el7 -> bind-9.9.4-72.el7. No ISC releases are affected. Other packages from other distributions who made the same error may also be affected.

Weakness: CWE-617 (Reachable Assertion)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2018-5742?

It affects 1 product.


| Package | Ecosystem | Affected | Fixed in |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `bind` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::client | All versions | 32:9.9.4-73.el7_6 |
| `bind-chroot` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::client | All versions | 32:9.9.4-73.el7_6 |
| `bind-debuginfo` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::client | All versions | 32:9.9.4-73.el7_6 |
| `bind-devel` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::client | All versions | 32:9.9.4-73.el7_6 |
| `bind-libs` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::client | All versions | 32:9.9.4-73.el7_6 |
| `bind-libs-lite` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::client | All versions | 32:9.9.4-73.el7_6 |
| `bind-license` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::client | All versions | 32:9.9.4-73.el7_6 |
| `bind-lite-devel` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::client | All versions | 32:9.9.4-73.el7_6 |
| `bind-pkcs11` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::client | All versions | 32:9.9.4-73.el7_6 |
| `bind-pkcs11-devel` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::client | All versions | 32:9.9.4-73.el7_6 |
| `bind-pkcs11-libs` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::client | All versions | 32:9.9.4-73.el7_6 |
| `bind-pkcs11-utils` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::client | All versions | 32:9.9.4-73.el7_6 |
| `bind-sdb` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::client | All versions | 32:9.9.4-73.el7_6 |
| `bind-sdb-chroot` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::client | All versions | 32:9.9.4-73.el7_6 |
| `bind-utils` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::client | All versions | 32:9.9.4-73.el7_6 |
| `bind` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::computenode | All versions | 32:9.9.4-73.el7_6 |
| `bind-chroot` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::computenode | All versions | 32:9.9.4-73.el7_6 |
| `bind-debuginfo` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::computenode | All versions | 32:9.9.4-73.el7_6 |
| `bind-devel` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::computenode | All versions | 32:9.9.4-73.el7_6 |
| `bind-libs` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::computenode | All versions | 32:9.9.4-73.el7_6 |
| `bind-libs-lite` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::computenode | All versions | 32:9.9.4-73.el7_6 |
| `bind-license` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::computenode | All versions | 32:9.9.4-73.el7_6 |
| `bind-lite-devel` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::computenode | All versions | 32:9.9.4-73.el7_6 |
| `bind-pkcs11` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::computenode | All versions | 32:9.9.4-73.el7_6 |
| `bind-pkcs11-devel` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::computenode | All versions | 32:9.9.4-73.el7_6 |
| `bind-pkcs11-libs` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::computenode | All versions | 32:9.9.4-73.el7_6 |
| `bind-pkcs11-utils` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::computenode | All versions | 32:9.9.4-73.el7_6 |
| `bind-sdb` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::computenode | All versions | 32:9.9.4-73.el7_6 |
| `bind-sdb-chroot` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::computenode | All versions | 32:9.9.4-73.el7_6 |
| `bind-utils` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::computenode | All versions | 32:9.9.4-73.el7_6 |
| `bind` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::server | All versions | 32:9.9.4-73.el7_6 |
| `bind-chroot` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::server | All versions | 32:9.9.4-73.el7_6 |
| `bind-debuginfo` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::server | All versions | 32:9.9.4-73.el7_6 |
| `bind-devel` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::server | All versions | 32:9.9.4-73.el7_6 |
| `bind-libs` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::server | All versions | 32:9.9.4-73.el7_6 |
| `bind-libs-lite` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::server | All versions | 32:9.9.4-73.el7_6 |
| `bind-license` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::server | All versions | 32:9.9.4-73.el7_6 |
| `bind-lite-devel` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::server | All versions | 32:9.9.4-73.el7_6 |
| `bind-pkcs11` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::server | All versions | 32:9.9.4-73.el7_6 |
| `bind-pkcs11-devel` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::server | All versions | 32:9.9.4-73.el7_6 |

Products: Isc Bind.

## How do I fix CVE-2018-5742?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2018-5742 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2018-5742 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Isc Bind

- [CVE-2008-0122](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2008-0122/): Memory corruption in n/a (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2001-0010](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2001-0010/): Memory corruption in n/a (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2001-0011](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2001-0011/): Memory corruption in n/a (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2001-0013](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2001-0013/): Memory corruption in n/a (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2000-1029](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2000-1029/): Memory corruption in n/a (critical 10.0)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2018-5742 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2018-5742 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Isc Bind, published on 30 Oct 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-2018-5742 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Isc Bind. 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-2018-5742/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-5742/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2018-5742
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2018-5742
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2018-5742

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-5742/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.