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Ubuntu LinuxOperating system · Canonical

CVE-2018-14622

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2018-08-30
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 0.3.3 or later.
See remediation →
84/100
Remediation priority · High
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

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
A null-pointer dereference vulnerability was found in libtirpc before version 0.3.3-rc3. The return value of makefd_xprt() was not checked in all instances, which could lead to a crash when the server exhausted the maximum number of available file descriptors. A remote attacker could cause an rpc-based application to crash by flooding it with new connections.

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 null-pointer dereference exists in libtirpc before version 0.3.3-rc3 where the return value of makefd_xprt() is not checked. When a server exhausts its maximum file descriptors and an attacker floods it with new connections, the unchecked null return causes the rpc-based application to crash.

MitigationUpgrade libtirpc to version 0.3.3-rc3 or later, which properly checks the makefd_xprt() return value, or implement connection rate limiting to prevent file descriptor exhaustion as a compensating control.

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= 18.04
Debian LinuxOperating system
Affected:= 8.0
Enterprise LinuxOperating system
Affected:= 7.0
Enterprise Linux DesktopOperating system
Affected:= 7.0
Enterprise Linux Server AusOperating system
Affected:= 7.4
Enterprise Linux Server EusOperating system
Affected:= 7.4= 7.5= 7.6
Enterprise Linux WorkstationOperating system
Affected:= 7.0
LibtirpcApplication
Affected:< 0.3.3

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
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/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 checks

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

  1. Identify installed libtirpc version
    Run 'rpm -qa | grep libtirpc' (RHEL/Debian) or 'dpkg -l | grep libtirpc' (Ubuntu/Debian) to list the installed libtirpc package and its version number
    Affected if The displayed version is lower than 0.3.3 (for source builds) or the package version is older than the patched versions in your distribution (e.g., Ubuntu 14.04/16.04/18.04, Debian 8, RHEL 7.x)
  2. Check for RPC-based services
    Run 'rpcinfo -p' to list all RPC services registered on the system, or check for services like statd, mountd, nfs, or other daemons that depend on libtirpc
    Affected if Any RPC services are running (the vulnerability affects rpc-based applications when file descriptors are exhausted)
  3. Verify file descriptor limits
    Check the current file descriptor limit with 'ulimit -n' and the system-wide limit in /proc/sys/fs/file-max; also check 'ps aux | grep <rpc_service>' for running RPC daemons
    Affected if The system has low file descriptor limits and RPC services exposed to network traffic, making it susceptible to the exhaustion condition that triggers the null pointer dereference
  4. Confirm library linkage
    Use 'ldd <path_to_rpc_daemon>' or 'ldconfig -p | grep libtirpc' to verify that RPC services are linked against libtirpc
    Affected if Any RPC daemon is linked against libtirpc and the library version is vulnerable

You are affected if libtirpc version is below 0.3.3 (or an unpatched distribution version) AND you run RPC-based network services that could be flooded to exhaust file descriptors.

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
Upgrade available Upgrade to 0.3.3 or later
Fixed in 0.3.3
Interim mitigation

Upgrade libtirpc to version 0.3.3-rc3 or later, which properly checks the makefd_xprt() return value, or implement connection rate limiting to prevent file descriptor exhaustion as a compensating control.

Fix this in Ubuntu Linux Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing5.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
16.0 hours of engineering $2,790
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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-2018-14622 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