CVE-2018-20996
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 the crossbeam crate before 0.4.1 for Rust. There is a double free because of destructor mishandling.
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 confidenceA double free vulnerability exists in the crossbeam Rust crate before version 0.4.1, caused by improper destructor handling. This memory safety flaw could allow attackers to corrupt memory and potentially achieve arbitrary code execution.
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< 0.4.1CVSS 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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Locate Cargo.tomlFind the Cargo.toml file in your project root that declares dependenciesAffected if crossbeam is listed as a dependency
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Check crossbeam version declarationIn Cargo.toml, look for crossbeam under [dependencies] or [dev-dependencies] and note the specified version (e.g., crossbeam = "0.4.0" or crossbeam = "0.4")Affected if Any crossbeam version constraint that resolves to less than 0.4.1
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Check resolved version in Cargo.lockOpen Cargo.lock and search for the [[package]] entry with name = "crossbeam", then read the version field (e.g., version = "0.4.0")Affected if The version field shows 0.4.0 or any version below 0.4.1
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Query installed crate versionRun `cargo tree -p crossbeam` or `cargo list --depth=1 | grep crossbeam` to see the actual crossbeam version being used in the buildAffected if The reported version is 0.4.0 or lower
You are affected if the crossbeam crate version resolved and used in your build is any version prior to 0.4.1.
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.
dbcve · scoped0.4.1
Upgrade the crossbeam dependency to version 0.4.1 or later in Cargo.toml and verify compatibility through testing.
crossbeam 0.4.1
- Update the crossbeam dependency in your Cargo.toml file to version 0.4.1 or later (e.g., crossbeam = "0.4.1")
- Run `cargo update` to update the Cargo.lock file
- Run `cargo build` or `cargo test` to verify the application compiles and tests pass with the updated dependency
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,752.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2018-20996 — 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-2018-20996 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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