CVE-2018-12916
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 · uneditedIn libpbc.a in PBC through 2017-03-02, there is a Segmentation fault in _pbcP_message_default in proto.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 · moderate confidenceA segmentation fault occurs in the _pbcP_message_default function in proto.c within libpbc.a of the PBC (Pairing-Based Cryptography) library. This is a memory corruption or null pointer dereference issue that can cause a denial of service and may potentially be exploitable for code execution given the critical CVSS score.
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<= 20170302CVSS 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
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/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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Identify PBC library installationLocate the PBC library files on the system. Search for libpbc.a or libpbc.so files, or check for PBC source code directories. Common paths include /usr/lib/, /usr/local/lib/, or project dependencies.Affected if The PBC library (libpbc) is present on the system or embedded in an application
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Determine PBC library versionCheck the version of the installed PBC library. For source installations, examine version.h, configure.ac, or release tags. For installed packages, use package manager queries or check library metadata. Compare against the affected range: versions <= 20170302Affected if The installed PBC version is 20170302 or earlier
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Verify vulnerable function existsInspect the PBC library or source code for the _pbcP_message_default function in proto.c. If source is available, check if the function is present. If only the compiled library exists, strings or nm commands can reveal the function symbol.Affected if The _pbcP_message_default function is present in the compiled library or source code
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Check for code paths using vulnerable functionReview application or project code that links against PBC to identify any calls to functions that eventually invoke _pbcP_message_default. Search for message handling, proto.c usage, or PBC message API calls.Affected if Code paths exist that call into the vulnerable _pbcP_message_default function through the PBC message interface
The environment is affected if PBC library version 20170302 or earlier is installed and any code path exercises the _pbcP_message_default function in proto.c, causing a segmentation fault.
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 dataUpgrade PBC library to a version after 2017-03-02 that includes the fix for this vulnerability. If patching is not feasible, review all code paths that call _pbcP_message_default and implement input validation or bounds checking to prevent the condition triggering the segfault.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing12.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2018-12916 — 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-2018-12916 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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- 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
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