CVE-2007-5197
Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.
NVD · uneditedBuffer overflow in the Mono.Math.BigInteger class in Mono 1.2.5.1 and earlier allows context-dependent attackers to execute arbitrary code via unspecified vectors related to Reduce in Montgomery-based Pow methods.
Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.
dbcve analysis · high confidenceBuffer overflow in Mono.Math.BigInteger class in Mono 1.2.5.1 and earlier allows arbitrary code execution via the Reduce function in Montgomery-based exponentiation (Pow) methods. This is a classic memory corruption vulnerability in cryptographic BigInteger operations where insufficient bounds checking in the Reduce method leads to heap overflow.
Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.
Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.
NVD · CPE data<= 1.2.5.1= 1.0= 1.0.5= 1.1.4= 1.1.8.3= 1.1.13= 1.1.13.4= 1.1.13.6= 1.1.13.7= 1.1.17= 1.1.17.1= 1.1.18CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.
From the vector- Attack vector
- Network
- Complexity
- Low
- Authentication
- None
- Confidentiality
- Partial
- Integrity
- Partial
- Availability
- Partial
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P
Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.
dbcve checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
-
Determine if Mono runtime is installedRun 'mono --version' from command line to retrieve the installed Mono versionAffected if The version output matches any of the following: 1.0, 1.0.5, 1.1.4, 1.1.8.3, 1.1.13, 1.1.13.4, 1.1.13.6, 1.1.13.7, 1.1.17, 1.1.17.1, 1.1.18, or any version <= 1.2.5.1
-
Locate the Mono.Math.BigInteger assemblyFind the Mono.Math.dll or mscorlib.dll assembly in the Mono lib directory (typically /usr/lib/mono or C:\Program Files\Mono\lib) and examine the BigInteger class implementation for the Reduce methodAffected if The Reduce method lacks proper bounds checking on array indices before performing heap operations in Montgomery-based exponentiation
-
Identify code using BigInteger Pow methodsSearch project source code for usages of Mono.Math.BigInteger with exponentiation operations (such as BigInteger.Pow or similar methods performing Montgomery exponentiation)Affected if The application uses Mono.Math.BigInteger class with cryptographic exponentiation operations that invoke the vulnerable Reduce function
You are affected if Mono version 1.2.5.1 or earlier (including all listed 1.0.x and 1.1.x versions) is installed AND your code performs BigInteger exponentiation operations that trigger the Reduce method in Montgomery-based cryptographic computations.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.
From vendor dataUpgrade to a supported Mono version (2.0 or later) that contains the patched BigInteger implementation, or apply the vendor-provided patch if staying on the legacy version is required.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,808.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2007-5197 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sources- bugs.gentoo.org
- bugs.gentoo.org
- secunia.com
- secunia.com
- secunia.com
- secunia.com
- secunia.com
- secunia.com
- secunia.com
- www.debian.org
- www.gentoo.org
- www.mandriva.com
- www.novell.com
- www.securityfocus.com
- www.securitytracker.com
- www.ubuntu.com
- www.vupen.com
- bugzilla.redhat.com
- exchange.xforce.ibmcloud.com
- www.redhat.com
- nvd.nist.gov
Practitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2007-5197 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.
A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.
- Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
- No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data