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Debian LinuxOperating system · Debian

CVE-2019-13132

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2019-07-10
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 4.0.9 / 4.1.7 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

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 ZeroMQ libzmq before 4.0.9, 4.1.x before 4.1.7, and 4.2.x before 4.3.2, a remote, unauthenticated client connecting to a libzmq application, running with a socket listening with CURVE encryption/authentication enabled, may cause a stack overflow and overwrite the stack with arbitrary data, due to a buffer overflow in the library. Users running public servers with the above configuration are highly encouraged to upgrade as soon as possible, as there are no known mitigations.

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

A buffer overflow in libzmq allows remote unauthenticated attackers to overflow the stack with arbitrary data when connecting to servers with CURVE encryption/authentication enabled. The vulnerability affects versions before 4.0.9, 4.1.x before 4.1.7, and 4.2.x before 4.3.2, with no known workarounds.

MitigationUpgrade libzmq to version 4.0.9, 4.1.7, 4.3.2 or later. Users running public-facing servers with CURVE encryption must upgrade immediately as no mitigations exist.

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:= 8.0= 9.0
Ubuntu LinuxOperating system
Affected:= 16.04= 18.04= 18.10= 19.04
FedoraOperating system
Affected:= 29= 30= 31
LibzmqApplication
Affected:< 4.0.9>= 4.1.0, < 4.1.7>= 4.2.0, < 4.3.2

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
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/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 checks

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

  1. Identify installed libzmq version
    Run 'pkg-config --modversion libzmq' or check the library file with 'dpkg -l | grep libzmq' on Debian/Ubuntu, 'rpm -qa | grep zmq' on Fedora, or 'zmq --version' if the CLI tool is available
    Affected if version is less than 4.0.9, or between 4.1.0 and 4.1.6 inclusive, or between 4.2.0 and 4.3.1 inclusive
  2. Check if CURVE encryption is enabled
    Review application configuration files and runtime settings for ZMQ_CURVE constants, look for 'curve' keyword in config files, or inspect application code for zmq_curve_* API calls
    Affected if CURVE encryption or authentication is configured and active on any ZMQ socket
  3. Verify ZMQ server binding with CURVE
    Examine running processes that bind ZMQ sockets and check if they set ZMQ_CURVE_SERVER or ZMQ_CURVE_PUBLIC_KEY options via environment variables, config files, or code inspection
    Affected if the system acts as a ZMQ server with CURVE authentication enabled

System is affected if libzmq version is below the fixed releases AND CURVE encryption/authentication is enabled on any ZMQ socket

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.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 4.0.9 / 4.1.7 / 4.3.2 or later
Fixed in 4.0.94.1.74.3.2
Interim mitigation

Upgrade libzmq to version 4.0.9, 4.1.7, 4.3.2 or later. Users running public-facing servers with CURVE encryption must upgrade immediately as no mitigations exist.

Recommended fix High confidence

libzmq 4.3.2 or later (or at minimum 4.0.9, 4.1.7, or 4.3.2 depending on your original branch)

  1. 1. Identify the current libzmq version installed on the system using package manager (e.g., dpkg -l | grep libzmq, rpm -qa | grep zmq, or apt show libzmq3)
  2. 2. For Debian/Ubuntu: Run 'sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install libzmq3' to upgrade to the latest available version in the repository
  3. 3. For Fedora: Run 'sudo dnf update libzmq' to upgrade
  4. 4. Verify the installed version matches or exceeds 4.3.2 using 'zmq --version' or checking the library directly
  5. 5. Restart any applications using libzmq to load the updated library
  6. 6. If the system repository does not have 4.3.2+, consider building from source: clone https://github.com/zeromq/libzmq, checkout tag v4.3.2 or later, configure, make, and make install
Caveat Minor API changes possible between major versions; test application compatibility after upgrade

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Debian Linux Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
18.0 hours of engineering $3,200
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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-2019-13132 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