dbcve.org
Enterprise Linux DesktopOperating system · Redhat

CVE-2018-7643

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.0 Published 2018-03-02
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
The display_debug_ranges function in dwarf.c in GNU Binutils 2.30 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (integer overflow and application crash) or possibly have unspecified other impact via a crafted ELF file, as demonstrated by objdump.

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 confidence

An integer overflow vulnerability exists in the display_debug_ranges function in dwarf.c in GNU Binutils 2.30. The vulnerability is triggered when processing a specially crafted ELF file through objdump, leading to a denial of service (application crash) or potentially other unspecified impact.

MitigationUpdate GNU Binutils to the latest version or apply the vendor patch for CVE-2018-7643. Avoid processing untrusted ELF files with objdump 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
Enterprise Linux DesktopOperating system
Affected:= 7.0
Enterprise Linux ServerOperating system
Affected:= 7.0
Enterprise Linux WorkstationOperating system
Affected:= 7.0
BinutilsApplication
Affected:= 2.30

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. Identify installed binutils version
    Run `binutils --version` or `objdump --version` to determine the exact version of binutils installed on the system
    Affected if The reported version is 2.30 exactly
  2. Verify objdump binary presence
    Confirm the objdump binary exists by running `which objdump` or attempting to execute `objdump --help`
    Affected if objdump is installed and executable on the system
  3. Check for debug info processing capability
    The vulnerability triggers when objdump processes ELF files containing DWARF debug information, specifically when displaying debug ranges using options like `-W r` or when dump_debug_aranges processes the file
    Affected if You use objdump to inspect debug sections in ELF files, particularly with range or debug info display options

Your environment is affected if the installed binutils version is exactly 2.30 and you use objdump to process ELF files with DWARF debug information

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 GNU Binutils to the latest version or apply the vendor patch for CVE-2018-7643. Avoid processing untrusted ELF files with objdump until the patch is applied.

Fix this in Enterprise Linux Desktop 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-2018-7643 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