Debian LinuxOperating system · Debian
CVE-2017-11733
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 · uneditedA null pointer dereference vulnerability was found in the function stackswap (called from decompileSTACKSWAP) in util/decompile.c in Ming 0.4.8, which allows attackers to cause a denial of service via a crafted 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 · high confidenceA null pointer dereference vulnerability exists in the stackswap function (called from decompileSTACKSWAP) in Ming 0.4.8's util/decompile.c. When processing a specially crafted SWF file, the decompiler attempts to dereference a null pointer, causing a crash and resulting in denial of service.
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
Debian LinuxOperating system
= 7.0= 0.4.8CVSS 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
- Local
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- Required
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- None
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/AV:L/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Check if Ming is installedRun 'dpkg -l | grep ming' on Debian systems, or check for presence of /usr/lib/libming*.so files, or run 'ming-gettext' or 'swftocxx' commands to see if any Ming utilities are availableAffected if Ming libraries or utilities are present on the system
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Identify the installed Ming versionRun 'dpkg -s libming-dev' or check the version string in the shared library file using 'strings /usr/lib/libming.so | grep -i version' or check the decompile.c file header if source is availableAffected if The version is 0.4.8 or if the decompile.c source file contains the vulnerable stackswap function
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Determine if the decompiler is in useCheck for usage of decompile utilities like 'swftophp', 'swftocxx', 'php2swf' or any tool that invokes the decompileSTACKSWAP function from util/decompile.cAffected if Any Ming decompiler utility is being used to process SWF files
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Identify SWF processing workflowsReview any scripts, applications, or automated pipelines that process SWF files using Ming utilities, looking for calls to decompilation functions or utilities that parse SWF contentAffected if The environment processes SWF files through Ming's decompiler functions
A user is affected if Ming version 0.4.8 is installed and its decompiler utilities are used to process SWF files, as the vulnerability triggers in the stackswap function during SWF decompilation.
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 dataProcess only trusted SWF files with the Ming decompiler utility. If a patched version is available, upgrade immediately. Otherwise, implement null pointer validation in the stackswap function before dereferencing any pointers.
Fix this in Debian Linux
Scoped from the published advisory
- 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-2017-11733 — 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-2017-11733 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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- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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