Debian LinuxOperating system · Debian

CVE-2018-5294

MEDIUM · 6.5 CVSS v3.0 Published 2018-01-08
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
72/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable No privileges

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
In libming 0.4.8, there is an integer overflow (caused by an out-of-range left shift) in the readUInt32 function (util/read.c). Remote attackers could leverage this vulnerability to cause a denial-of-service via a crafted swf file.

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 confidence

Integer overflow vulnerability in libming 0.4.8's readUInt32 function (util/read.c) caused by an out-of-range left shift operation. When parsing a specially crafted SWF file, the overflow can trigger a denial-of-service condition.

MitigationProcess only SWF files from trusted sources; apply any available vendor patch for libming to address the integer overflow in readUInt32.

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
Debian LinuxOperating system
Affected:= 7.0
LibmingApplication
Affected:= 0.4.8

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
Required
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/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 if libming library is installed
    Run 'dpkg -l | grep libming' (Debian) or check for libming shared library files in system paths like /usr/lib/ or /usr/local/lib/
    Affected if libming library files exist on the system
  2. Determine installed libming version
    Run 'dpkg -l libming' or check library version via 'strings' on libming binary files, or query the package manager for the exact version number
    Affected if version matches 0.4.8 exactly (or if version cannot be determined but libming is present)
  3. Identify applications or services that use libming
    Search for compiled binaries or scripts that link against libming: run 'ldd $(which <application>) 2>/dev/null | grep ming' or check /usr/bin/ and /usr/sbin/ for utilities that process SWF files
    Affected if any program on the system is configured to parse SWF files using libming
  4. Check for SWF file processing activity
    Review any log files, cron jobs, or services that process SWF files from external or untrusted sources
    Affected if SWF files are being parsed by libming-based tools on the system

User is affected if libming version 0.4.8 is installed AND any application on the system uses it to parse SWF files, particularly from untrusted sources.

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
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Process only SWF files from trusted sources; apply any available vendor patch for libming to address the integer overflow in readUInt32.

Fix this in Debian Linux Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA3.0 h
15.0 hours of engineering $2,560
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Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2018-5294 — 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 sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2018-5294 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