# CVE-2019-9704: Null dereference in n/a

> Local users can crash the Vixie Cron daemon by submitting a large crontab file due to unchecked memory allocation failures.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.5 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 12 Mar 2019
- **Updated:** 4 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2019-9704, GHSA-34r4-h4c9-vmrj, UBUNTU-CVE-2019-9704, openSUSE-SU-2024:10701-1

## What is CVE-2019-9704?

CVE-2019-9704 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Debian Debian Linux, published on 12 Mar 2019. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

Vixie Cron before the 3.0pl1-133 Debian package allows local users to cause a denial of service (daemon crash) via a large crontab file because the calloc return value is not checked.

Weakness: CWE-476 (NULL Pointer Dereference), CWE-252 (Unchecked Return Value)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2019-9704?

It affects 3 products.


| Package | Ecosystem | Affected | Fixed in |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `cronie` | openSUSE:Tumbleweed | All versions | 1.5.7-86.1 |

Products: Cron Project Cron, Debian Debian Linux, Fedoraproject Fedora.

## How do I fix CVE-2019-9704?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2019-9704 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2019-9704 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Debian Debian Linux

- [CVE-2017-9525](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-9525/): Privilege escalation in n/a (medium 6.7)
- [CVE-2019-9705](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-9705/): Denial of service in n/a (medium 5.5)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2019-9704 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2019-9704 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Debian Debian Linux, published on 12 Mar 2019. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2019-9704 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Debian Debian Linux. 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-2019-9704/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-9704/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2019-9704
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2019-9704
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2019-9704

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-9704/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.