CVE-2018-14737
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 · uneditedAn issue was discovered in libpbc.a in cloudwu PBC through 2017-03-02. A NULL pointer dereference can occur in pbc_wmessage_string in wmessage.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 NULL pointer dereference vulnerability exists in the pbc_wmessage_string function in wmessage.c of the PBC (Protocol Buffers C) library. The vulnerability can be triggered when processing certain protocol buffer messages, leading to a denial of service condition due to the NULL pointer being dereferenced without proper validation.
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<= 2017-03-02CVSS 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 if PBC library is installedCheck for the presence of PBC library files or headers. On Linux: locate libpbc or search for pbc headers in /usr/include or /usr/local/include. On Windows: search for pbc.h or linked library files.Affected if PBC library is present in the environment
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Determine the PBC library versionCheck the library's version metadata. For source builds, examine the build timestamp or version file. For packaged versions, use the package manager: dpkg -l | grep pbc, rpm -qa | grep pbc, or check the library's shared object version using ls -la libpbc*Affected if The version or build date is on or before 2017-03-02
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Identify usage of pbc_wmessage_string functionSearch source code or binaries for calls to pbc_wmessage_string. Use grep -r "pbc_wmessage_string" in source trees or examine binary symbols with nm or objdump if compiled binaries are available.Affected if Code that calls pbc_wmessage_string exists and processes external protocol buffer input
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Check if protocol buffer messages are processed from untrusted sourcesReview application code that uses PBC to parse protocol buffer data. Identify if message input comes from network sources, user uploads, or other untrusted origins.Affected if Applications using PBC process protocol buffer messages from external or untrusted sources
If PBC library version is from 2017-03-02 or earlier and your code uses pbc_wmessage_string to process external protocol buffer messages, your environment is affected by this vulnerability.
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 to a patched version of the PBC library that addresses the NULL pointer dereference, or implement input validation checks in the calling code to ensure proper message initialization before passing to pbc_wmessage_string.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2018-14737 — 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-2018-14737 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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