CVE-2018-14741
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 SEGV can occur in pbc_pattern_pack in pattern.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 · low confidenceA segmentation fault (SEGV) vulnerability exists in the pbc_pattern_pack function in pattern.c within the cloudwu PBC (Protocol Buffers C) library versions through 2017-03-02. This denial-of-service flaw in libpbc.a can be triggered when processing crafted protobuf data, causing the affected application to crash.
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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Locate the PBC library in your environmentSearch for libpbc.a or libpbc.so files in your application dependencies, build directories, or system library paths using 'find / -name "libpbc*" 2>/dev/null' or review your project's dependency manifestAffected if The PBC library is present in your environment
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Determine the PBC library version or build dateInspect the source code timestamp, library file modification date, or any version identifiers in the PBC library headers/metadata. Check the pattern.c file date if the source is available, or query the library's build metadataAffected if The library version or its source files (pattern.c) date to 2017-03-02 or earlier
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Identify if your application processes protobuf data from untrusted sourcesReview your application code to determine if pbc_pattern_pack or related PBC deserialization functions handle protobuf input from network sources, user uploads, or external files that could contain crafted dataAffected if Your application uses PBC to process protobuf data from untrusted or network sources
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Check for recent crash logs related to PBC processingReview application and system logs for SEGV, segmentation fault, or crash events occurring during protobuf parsing, particularly in the pbc_pattern_pack code pathAffected if Crashes have occurred during protobuf processing that may indicate exploitation of this flaw
Your environment is affected if you use cloudwu PBC library version 2017-03-02 or earlier and process untrusted protobuf data with the vulnerable pbc_pattern_pack 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 dataIf an updated version of cloudwu PBC is available, upgrade to it. Otherwise, validate all protobuf input before processing and consider isolating code that handles untrusted protobuf data to limit blast radius.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2018-14741 — 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-2018-14741 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
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