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Ubuntu LinuxOperating system · Canonical

CVE-2018-11684

HIGH · 8.8 CVSS v3.0 Published 2018-06-04
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
95/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
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
Liblouis 3.5.0 has a stack-based Buffer Overflow in the function includeFile in compileTranslationTable.c.

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

A stack-based buffer overflow exists in liblouis 3.5.0 within the includeFile function in compileTranslationTable.c. The vulnerability occurs when processing translation table files, where insufficient bounds checking allows overflowing a stack-allocated buffer. This memory corruption issue has a CVSS score of 8.8, indicating high severity with network-exploitable attack vector and potential for code execution.

MitigationUpdate liblouis to a version that includes the security patch for this vulnerability. Until patched, avoid processing untrusted braille translation table files and implement input validation on any translation table files processed by the application.

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= 18.04
LiblouisApplication
Affected:= 3.5.0
LeapOperating system
Affected:= 15.0

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
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 checks

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

  1. Confirm liblouis package is installed
    Run `dpkg -l | grep liblouis` (Ubuntu/Debian) or `rpm -qa | grep liblouis` (RHEL/SUSE) to list installed liblouis packages
    Affected if The liblouis package appears in the package list, indicating the library is present on the system
  2. Identify installed liblouis version
    Run `dpkg -l liblouis*` or `rpm -q liblouis*` to retrieve the exact installed version number, or use `ldd --version` or check `/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/liblouis*` for library version
    Affected if The installed version matches 3.5.0 or falls within the affected Ubuntu versions (14.04, 16.04, 17.10, 18.04) or OpenSUSE Leap 15.0 with liblouis 3.5.0
  3. Determine if translation table processing is active
    Check running processes or application logs for usage of liblouis braille translation functions, look for applications that load .ctb or .utb translation table files (typically found in /usr/lib/liblouis/tables/ or custom paths)
    Affected if Any application is actively loading, compiling, or processing braille translation table files using liblouis
  4. Identify source of translation table files
    Inspect application configuration or command-line arguments for paths to translation table files (.ctb, .utb files), check if tables are loaded from user-controlled or untrusted locations
    Affected if Translation table files are loaded from locations writable by untrusted users or are received from untrusted external sources

The system is affected if liblouis version 3.5.0 (or the vulnerable package versions for Ubuntu/OpenSUSE) is installed AND applications process braille translation table files, especially from untrusted sources.

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

Update liblouis to a version that includes the security patch for this vulnerability. Until patched, avoid processing untrusted braille translation table files and implement input validation on any translation table files processed by the application.

Fix this in Ubuntu Linux Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing5.0 h
  • Review / QA3.0 h
17.0 hours of engineering $2,970
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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-2018-11684 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

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What belongs here
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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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