Ubuntu LinuxOperating system · Canonical

CVE-2018-1000097

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.0 Published 2018-03-13
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
81/100
Remediation priority · High
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
Sharutils sharutils (unshar command) version 4.15.2 contains a Buffer Overflow vulnerability in Affected component on the file unshar.c at line 75, function looks_like_c_code. Failure to perform checking of the buffer containing input line. that can result in Could lead to code execution. This attack appear to be exploitable via Victim have to run unshar command on a specially 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 confidence

Buffer overflow vulnerability in Sharutils 4.15.2's unshar command. The looks_like_c_code function in unshar.c at line 75 fails to perform bounds checking on the buffer containing the input line before processing it. Successful exploitation allows code execution if a victim runs unshar on a specially crafted file.

MitigationAvoid running the unshar command on untrusted or specially crafted files. Apply a source code fix to add proper buffer length checking in the looks_like_c_code function, or upgrade to a patched version when available.

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
Ubuntu LinuxOperating system
Affected:= 14.04= 16.04= 17.10
Debian LinuxOperating system
Affected:= 8.0= 9.0
SharutilsApplication
Affected:= 4.15.2

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
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
Required
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/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. Verify sharutils package is installed
    Run: dpkg -l | grep sharutils (Debian/Ubuntu) or rpm -qa | grep sharutils (RPM-based)
    Affected if Package is not installed means not affected in this way
  2. Check installed unshar version
    Run: unshar --version or dpkg -l sharutils
    Affected if Version shows 4.15.2 or falls within the affected distribution versions (Ubuntu 14.04, 16.04, 17.10; Debian 8.0, 9.0) with unpatched sharutils
  3. Locate the unshar binary
    Run: which unshar
    Affected if Binary exists at a standard path, the vulnerability is present if version check above is positive
  4. Inspect the vulnerable function source
    Check if unshar.c source file contains unpatched looks_like_c_code function around line 75 without bounds checking
    Affected if Source code shows missing buffer length validation before processing input lines

You are affected if unshar from sharutils version 4.15.2 or an unpatched version from the listed Ubuntu/Debian releases is installed and accessible on your system.

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
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Avoid running the unshar command on untrusted or specially crafted files. Apply a source code fix to add proper buffer length checking in the looks_like_c_code function, or upgrade to a patched version when available.

Fix this in Ubuntu Linux Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation3.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
8.0 hours of engineering $1,420
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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-2018-1000097 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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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