LibdwarfApplication · Libdwarf Project

CVE-2014-9482

MEDIUM · 6.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2018-01-16
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 2014-08-05 or later.
See remediation →
72/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable No privileges

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 · unedited
Use-after-free vulnerability in dwarfdump in libdwarf 20130126 through 20140805 might allow remote attackers to cause a denial of service (program crash) via a crafted ELF file.

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 · moderate confidence

A use-after-free vulnerability exists in the dwarfdump utility of libdwarf versions 20130126 through 20140805. The vulnerability is triggered when processing a specially crafted ELF file, causing the program to access freed memory, resulting in a denial of service via program crash.

MitigationUpdate libdwarf to a version after 20140805 that contains the fix, or apply vendor patches. Additionally, implement input validation and avoid processing untrusted ELF files with dwarfdump until the patch is applied.

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
LibdwarfApplication
Affected:>= 2013-01-26, <= 2014-08-05

CVSS 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
Privileges
None
User interaction
Required
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Locate dwarfdump or libdwarf installation
    Run 'which dwarfdump' or search for libdwarf files using 'find /usr -name "*dwarf*" -type f 2>/dev/null'
    Affected if dwarfdump or libdwarf library files are found on the system
  2. Determine installed libdwarf version
    Run 'dwarfdump -V' or 'dwarfdump --version', or check the library version with 'ls -la' on the libdwarf shared library file
    Affected if The version displayed matches the date-based format between 20130126 and 20140805 inclusive
  3. Check libdwarf package version
    If installed via package manager, run 'dpkg -l | grep libdwarf' (Debian) or 'rpm -qa | grep -i libdwarf' (RHEL/CentOS)
    Affected if The package version falls within the affected date range 20130126 to 20140805
  4. Verify dwarfdump processes ELF files
    Review any scripts, automated tools, or workflows that invoke dwarfdump to process ELF/binary files
    Affected if dwarfdump is used to analyze ELF files, particularly from untrusted sources

The system is affected if libdwarf or dwarfdump is installed with a version date between 20130126 and 20140805 inclusive, and dwarfdump is used to process ELF files.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

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 data
Upgrade available Upgrade to a release after 2014-08-05
Interim mitigation

Update libdwarf to a version after 20140805 that contains the fix, or apply vendor patches. Additionally, implement input validation and avoid processing untrusted ELF files with dwarfdump until the patch is applied.

Fix this in Libdwarf Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
14.0 hours of engineering $2,490
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,984.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2014-9482 — 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

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2014-9482 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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.

What this is

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.

What belongs here
  • 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