Ubuntu LinuxOperating system · Canonical
CVE-2018-11683
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 · uneditedLiblouis 3.5.0 has a stack-based Buffer Overflow in the function parseChars in compileTranslationTable.c, a different vulnerability than CVE-2018-11440.
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 stack-based buffer overflow vulnerability exists in liblouis 3.5.0 in the parseChars function within compileTranslationTable.c. The vulnerability arises from improper bounds checking when parsing translation table data, potentially allowing an attacker to overwrite stack memory and achieve code execution via crafted input.
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
= 14.04= 16.04= 17.10= 18.04= 3.5.0= 15.0CVSS 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
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Check if liblouis is installedRun 'dpkg -l | grep liblouis' on Ubuntu, 'rpm -qa | grep liblouis' on openSUSE, or check for the library file in common paths like /usr/lib/Affected if liblouis package or library file is present on the system
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Identify installed liblouis versionRun 'dpkg -s liblouis' on Ubuntu or 'rpm -qi liblouis' on openSUSE; alternatively, check the library version with 'ldd' or examine the library file metadataAffected if Installed version is 3.5.0 exactly
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Determine if liblouis is in use by an applicationCheck running processes that may link to liblouis using 'ldd' on suspected binaries or 'lsof | grep liblouis' for open file handlesAffected if Any application dynamically links to and loads liblouis library
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Verify if translation table processing occursInspect application logs, configuration, or documentation for braille translation table usage; check if applications process braille translation tables from user-controlled or untrusted sourcesAffected if The system processes braille translation tables, especially from untrusted or external sources
You are affected if liblouis version 3.5.0 is installed AND your system processes braille translation tables, as the buffer overflow in parseChars triggers during translation table parsing.
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 dataUpdate to a patched version of liblouis (3.5.0+) that addresses the buffer overflow in parseChars. Until a patch is available, restrict processing of translation tables to trusted sources only.
Fix this in Ubuntu Linux
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing3.0 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 $3,088.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2018-11683 — 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-2018-11683 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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