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Fencer Intel
medium 5.5

CVE-2018-7642 json

The swap_std_reloc_in function in aoutx.h in the Binary File Descriptor (BFD) library (aka libbfd), as distributed in GNU Binutils 2.30, al…

published 2018-03-02 8 y ago modified 2026-06-17 4 mo ago also EUVD-2018-19361

cvss
5.5
version 3.0, NVD
cisa kev
Not listed
not in CISA's catalog
epss
1.9%
EPSS 1.9% chance of exploitation in 30 days, percentile 79%
public exploits
0
none known

Summary

The swap_std_reloc_in function in aoutx.h in the Binary File Descriptor (BFD) library (aka libbfd), as distributed in GNU Binutils 2.30, allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (aout_32_swap_std_reloc_out NULL pointer dereference and application crash) via a crafted ELF file, as demonstrated by objcopy.

Patch / fix

  • binutils Debian 14, Debian 13, Debian 12 2.30-6

debian advisories DEBIAN-CVE-2018-7642

  • binutils Ubuntu Pro 16.04 LTS 2.26.1-1ubuntu1~16.04.8+esm1

ubuntu advisories UBUNTU-CVE-2018-7642

Ubuntu security data © Canonical Ltd., from https://github.com/canonical/ubuntu-security-notices via OSV; changed: normalised to fixed package versions per release. CC BY-SA 4.0

  • binutils RHEL 7 2.27-34.base.el7

red hat advisories RHSA-2018:3032

  • binutils SLE Module for Package Hub 15, SLE Module for Development Tools 15, SLE Module for Basesystem 15 2.32-6.8.1
  • binutils SLE Module for Package Hub 15 SP1, SLE Module for Development Tools 15 SP1, SLE Module for Basesystem 15 SP1 2.32-7.5.1
  • binutils SLES 12 SP3, SLES 12 SP2-BCL, SLED 12 SP3 +9 more 2.31-9.26.1
  • cross-ppc-binutils SLE Software Development Kit 12 SP3 2.31-9.26.1
  • cross-spu-binutils SLE Software Development Kit 12 SP3 2.31-9.26.1
  • binutils SLE Module for Development Tools 15, SLE Module for Basesystem 15 2.31-6.3.1

suse advisories SUSE-SU-2019:2780-1SUSE-SU-2019:2779-1SUSE-SU-2018:3207-2SUSE-SU-2018:3207-1SUSE-SU-2018:3170-1

  • binutils openSUSE Tumbleweed 2.37-1.3
  • binutils openSUSE Leap 15.1 2.32-lp151.3.3.1
  • cross-rx-binutils openSUSE Leap 15.1 2.32-lp151.3.3.1
  • cross-arm-binutils openSUSE Leap 15.1 2.32-lp151.3.3.1
  • cross-avr-binutils openSUSE Leap 15.1 2.32-lp151.3.3.1
  • cross-ppc-binutils openSUSE Leap 15.1 2.32-lp151.3.3.1
  • cross-spu-binutils openSUSE Leap 15.1 2.32-lp151.3.3.1
  • cross-hppa-binutils openSUSE Leap 15.1 2.32-lp151.3.3.1

opensuse advisories openSUSE-SU-2024:10651-1openSUSE-SU-2019:2432-1openSUSE-SU-2019:2415-1

  • binutils Alpine 3.7 2.30-r2
  • binutils Alpine 3.8 2.30-r6

alpine advisories ALPINE-CVE-2018-7642

Alpine secdb © Alpine Linux, from https://secdb.alpinelinux.org via OSV; changed: normalised to fixed package versions per release. CC BY-SA 4.0

Vendor advisories

What the vendors themselves say about their products: affected, fixed or not affected, and what to do.

red hat product security vex CVE-2018-7642 updated cvss 3.3

binutils: NULL pointer dereference in swap_std_reloc_in function in aoutx.h resulting in crash

  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 binutils, binutils220 Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 binutils
    affected: no fix planned “Will not fix”
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux Client (v. 7) binutils 2.27-34.base.el7 Red Hat Enterprise Linux Client Optional (v. 7) binutils-devel 2.27-34.base.el7, binutils-debuginfo 2.27-34.base.el7 Red Hat Enterprise Linux ComputeNode (v. 7) binutils 2.27-34.base.el7 Red Hat Enterprise Linux ComputeNode Optional (v. 7) binutils-devel 2.27-34.base.el7, binutils-debuginfo 2.27-34.base.el7 Red Hat Enterprise Linux for ARM and IBM Power LE (POWER9) Server (v. 7) binutils 2.27-34.base.el7 Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server (v. 7) binutils 2.27-34.base.el7
    +1 more products
    Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation (v. 7) binutils 2.27-34.base.el7
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2018:3032
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 binutils
    not affected: vulnerable code not present

Red Hat CSAF VEX © Red Hat, Inc., from https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/; changed: reduced to product statuses and remediations. CC BY 4.0 · csaf

Exploit prediction

1.88% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 79% of all scored CVEs (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-09).

CVSS scores

assigned by version score vector
NVD 3.0 5.5 CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
NVD 2.0 4.3 AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:P

Classification

Weakness

References

Sources

Fencer Intel keeps one entry per vulnerability: the CVE id wins, then GHSA, and records that alias each other are merged, except that two CVEs always keep separate entries. The same data is available as JSON.