CVE-2007-6437
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 · uneditedBalabit syslog-ng 2.0.x before 2.0.6 and 2.1.x before 2.1.8 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (crash) via a message with a timestamp that does not contain a trailing space, which triggers a NULL pointer dereference.
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 confidencesyslog-ng 2.0.x before 2.0.6 and 2.1.x before 2.1.8 contains a NULL pointer dereference vulnerability when processing log messages with timestamps that lack a trailing space, causing a denial of service (crash).
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<= 2.0.6<= 2.1.8CVSS 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
- None
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- Partial
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/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.
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Confirm syslog-ng is installedRun `syslog-ng -V` or check your package manager for the syslog-ng packageAffected if syslog-ng is present on the system
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Identify the installed versionCheck the version output from `syslog-ng -V` or examine the installed package versionAffected if The version is 2.0.x at or below 2.0.6, or 2.1.x at or below 2.1.8
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Verify the syslog-ng service is runningCheck process status with `ps aux | grep syslog-ng` or `systemctl status syslog-ng`Affected if The syslog-ng daemon is actively running and processing logs
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Determine if timestamp parsing is activeReview the syslog-ng configuration file (typically /etc/syslog-ng/syslog-ng.conf) to confirm log sources are configuredAffected if syslog-ng is configured to receive and parse incoming log messages from network sources or files containing timestamps without trailing spaces
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Check for network log receptionExamine the configuration for network sources (udp, tcp listeners on ports 514 or custom ports)Affected if The system accepts log messages from network sources that could contain timestamps lacking trailing spaces
You are affected if syslog-ng version 2.0.6 or lower (2.0.x) or 2.1.8 or lower (2.1.x) is running and processing log messages that may contain timestamps without trailing spaces.
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 syslog-ng to version 2.0.6, 2.1.8, or later to patch the NULL pointer dereference in timestamp parsing.
- Consultation1.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,664.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2007-6437 — 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 sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2007-6437 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
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- 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
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