CVE-2018-14444
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 · uneditedlibdxfrw 0.6.3 has an Integer Overflow in dwgCompressor::decompress18 in dwgutil.cpp, leading to an out-of-bounds read and application crash.
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 confidencelibdxfrw 0.6.3 contains an integer overflow vulnerability in the dwgCompressor::decompress18 function in dwgutil.cpp. This overflow occurs during decompression of DWG files and causes the application to read beyond allocated buffer boundaries, leading to a crash. The vulnerability can be triggered by processing specially crafted DWG files.
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= 0.6.3CVSS 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
- None
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/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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Identify installed libdxfrw versionRun 'pkg-config --modversion libdxfrw' or check the library file with 'strings libdxfrw.so | grep -i version' or check package manager: 'dpkg -l | grep libdxfrw' (Debian) or 'rpm -qa | grep libdxfrw' (RHEL)Affected if The installed version is 0.6.3 exactly, or if version cannot be determined but the library date matches the vulnerable release
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Locate dwgutil.cpp in the source treeSearch for 'dwgutil.cpp' in the application or library source code: 'find . -name dwgutil.cpp' and check if the file contains 'decompress18' functionAffected if The decompress18 function exists in the codebase, indicating the vulnerable code path is present
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Identify applications using libdxfrwCheck which applications link to libdxfrw: 'ldd /path/to/binary | grep libdxfrw' or search application dependenciesAffected if Any application that links against libdxfrw and processes DWG files is potentially affected
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Determine if DWG file processing is enabledReview application configuration for DWG import/enable options, or check if users have uploaded or opened DWG files in logsAffected if The application is configured to process or import DWG file formats
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Check for crash logs related to DWG decompressionSearch application logs and system logs for crashes during DWG file processing: 'grep -r "dwg" /var/log/*' or check for segfaults in application logsAffected if Crashes occur when processing DWG files, which may indicate exploitation attempts or successful exploitation
The environment is affected if libdxfrw version 0.6.3 is installed AND the application processes DWG files using the decompress18 function.
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 libdxfrw to a patched version if available, or implement integer overflow checks in the decompress18 function before arithmetic operations that affect memory allocation or indexing. Input validation on DWG file data before decompression can also mitigate exploitation.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2018-14444 — 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-2018-14444 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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