CVE-2018-9138
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 cplus-dem.c in GNU libiberty, as distributed in GNU Binutils 2.29 and 2.30. Stack Exhaustion occurs in the C++ demangling functions provided by libiberty, and there are recursive stack frames: demangle_nested_args, demangle_args, do_arg, and do_type.
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 confidenceStack exhaustion vulnerability in GNU libiberty's C++ demangling functions (demangle_nested_args, demangle_args, do_arg, do_type) due to unbounded recursive calls. Specially crafted mangled C++ symbol names can cause excessive stack consumption leading to denial of service.
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= 2.29= 2.30CVSS 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
- None
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/AV:L/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Check installed binutils versionRun `binutils --version` or `ld -v` to determine the exact version numberAffected if Version is 2.29 or 2.30 exactly
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Check for c++filt usageIdentify if the c++filt tool (part of binutils) is being used to demangle symbols from untrusted sourcesAffected if c++filt is used to process mangled C++ symbol names from external or untrusted input
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Audit custom applications using libibertyReview any custom code or tools that link against libiberty and call demangling functions such as demangle, demangle_nested_args, demangle_args, do_arg, or do_typeAffected if Applications directly call libiberty's demangling functions to process untrusted mangled C++ symbol names
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Check for symbol demangling in build toolsInspect build systems, debuggers, or analysis tools that may demangle C++ symbols (such as objdump, nm, gdb) for processing external binariesAffected if Tools that demangle C++ symbols are used on untrusted binary files or symbol tables
You are affected if you run binutils version 2.29 or 2.30 and any tool or custom code uses libiberty's C++ demangling functions to process untrusted or externally-sourced mangled symbol names.
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.
From vendor dataUpgrade Binutils to a version containing the fix for this vulnerability, or implement input length/recursion depth limits on C++ symbol names before demangling processing.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation12.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA3.0 h
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2018-9138 — 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-2018-9138 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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