Debian LinuxOperating system · Debian
CVE-2018-7053
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 Irssi before 1.0.7 and 1.1.x before 1.1.1. There is a use-after-free when SASL messages are received in an unexpected order.
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 confidenceIrssi IRC client before versions 1.0.7 and 1.1.1 contains a use-after-free vulnerability in its SASL (Simple Authentication and Security Layer) authentication handling. When SASL messages are received in an unexpected order, the client improperly frees memory that is still being referenced, potentially allowing remote code execution by a malicious IRC server.
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
= 9.0
Ubuntu LinuxOperating system
= 14.04= 16.04= 17.10< 1.0.7= 1.1.0CVSS 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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Determine installed Irssi versionRun `irssi --version` or check your package manager (dpkg -l irssi, apt-cache policy irssi, rpm -qi irssi)Affected if Version is less than 1.0.7 or equal to 1.1.0
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Confirm SASL authentication is in useCheck Irssi config files (usually ~/.irssi/config or ~/.irssi/sasl.pl) for network configurations with SASL enabled, or run `/network list` in Irssi and inspect connected networksAffected if SASL authentication is configured on any network
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Check for SASL PLAIN mechanismInspect ~/.irssi/sasl.pl or the network settings in ~/.irssi/config for lines containing 'sasl_mechanism' set to 'PLAIN'Affected if SASL PLAIN mechanism is configured - the flaw occurs when SASL messages arrive in unexpected order during authentication
You are affected if your Irssi version is below 1.0.7 or exactly 1.1.0 AND you have SASL authentication enabled on any connected IRC network.
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 · scoped1.0.7
Upgrade Irssi to version 1.0.7, 1.1.1, or later to patch the use-after-free vulnerability in SASL message processing.
Irssi 1.0.7 (for 1.0.x line) or Irssi 1.1.1 (for 1.1.x line)
- 1. Check current Irssi version by running: irssi --version
- 2. For Debian/Ubuntu systems, update package lists: sudo apt-get update
- 3. Upgrade Irssi to the fixed version: sudo apt-get install irssi
- 4. Verify the installed version matches 1.0.7 or 1.1.1 or later: irssi --version
- 5. Restart any running Irssi sessions to ensure the patched binary is loaded
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
Fix this in Debian Linux
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation1.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing1.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,424.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2018-7053 — 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-2018-7053 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
- No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
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