CVE-2018-14882: The ICMPv6 parser in tcpdump before 4.9.3 has a buffer over-read in print-icmp6.c.

Security readout for executives and security teams

CVE-2018-14882 is a critical tcpdump flaw in ICMPv6 packet parsing before version 4.9.3. A malicious packet handled by tcpdump could trigger memory being read past its intended boundary. That creates risk for monitoring hosts, admin workstations, and appliances where tcpdump processes untrusted network traffic or captures. Exposure is most likely where tcpdump versions before 4.9.3 are installed or embedded, especially on Linux distributions, macOS, appliances, packet capture hosts, and diagnostic systems that inspect IPv6 traffic or untrusted capture files. Treat this as a priority patching item for network monitoring and admin systems, but do not assume active exploitation from the supplied evidence. Focus first on systems that run tcpdump against live or untrusted IPv6 traffic. Mitigation focus: Upgrade tcpdump to 4.9.3 or a vendor-fixed package.; Apply Debian, Fedora, openSUSE, Ubuntu, Apple, or appliance vendor security updates where applicable.; Restrict packet capture processing to trusted files and networks until patched..

Prepared

May 22, 2026, 17:45 UTC (UTC+00:00)

Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.