dbcve.org
FedoraOperating system · Fedoraproject

CVE-2018-5345

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.0 Published 2018-01-12
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
81/100
Remediation priority · High
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
A stack-based buffer overflow within GNOME gcab through 0.7.4 can be exploited by malicious attackers to cause a crash or, potentially, execute arbitrary code via a crafted .cab 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

A stack-based buffer overflow vulnerability exists in GNOME gcab versions through 0.7.4 when parsing cabinet (.cab) files. The vulnerability can be triggered by a specially crafted .cab file, leading to potential crash or arbitrary code execution.

MitigationUpdate gcab to a version newer than 0.7.4, or ensure untrusted .cab files are not processed by affected systems until the patch is applied.

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
FedoraOperating system
Affected:all versions
Ubuntu LinuxOperating system
Affected:= 16.04= 17.10
Debian LinuxOperating system
Affected:= 9.0
Enterprise Linux DesktopOperating system
Affected:= 7.0
Enterprise Linux ServerOperating system
Affected:= 7.0
Enterprise Linux Server AusOperating system
Affected:= 7.4= 7.6
Enterprise Linux Server EusOperating system
Affected:= 7.4= 7.5= 7.6
Enterprise Linux Server TusOperating system
Affected:= 7.4= 7.6

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
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
Required
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/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 checks

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

  1. Check if gcab is installed
    Run 'rpm -q gcab' on RHEL/Fedora or 'dpkg -l | grep gcab' on Debian/Ubuntu. Alternatively, run 'gcab --version' to see if the command is available.
    Affected if gcab is installed on the system
  2. Determine installed gcab version
    Run 'rpm -q --qf '%{VERSION}-%{RELEASE}' gcab' on RHEL/Fedora, or 'dpkg -s gcab' on Debian/Ubuntu, or 'gcab --version' to retrieve the exact version number.
    Affected if the installed version is 0.7.4 or any version through 0.7.4 (including earlier versions like 0.7.0, 0.6, etc.)
  3. Identify processes or services that parse .cab files
    Search for cron jobs, scripts, or applications that invoke 'gcab' or process .cab files. Run 'grep -r "\.cab\|gcab" /etc/cron* /opt /home 2>/dev/null' and review any custom scripts in the environment.
    Affected if there are automated processes or services that parse .cab files, especially from untrusted sources
  4. Check for recent cabinet file processing activity
    Review system logs (journalctl, /var/log/messages, /var/log/syslog) for entries involving 'gcab' or 'cabinet' file extraction. Use 'grep -i "gcab\|cab" /var/log/* 2>/dev/null | head -50'.
    Affected if cabinet files have been recently processed on the system
  5. Verify user awareness and file handling practices
    Check if users or automated systems handle untrusted .cab files. Interview system administrators or review documentation for workflows involving cabinet archives.
    Affected if users or systems routinely process .cab files from untrusted or external sources without verification

The system is affected if gcab version 0.7.4 or any earlier version is installed AND the system processes cabinet (.cab) 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

Update gcab to a version newer than 0.7.4, or ensure untrusted .cab files are not processed by affected systems until the patch is applied.

Fix this in Fedora Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
12.0 hours of engineering $2,080
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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-2018-5345 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