Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
ClamAV could crash or become unavailable when it scanned a specially crafted Windows EXE. The issue is in the MEW unpacker, so the main business risk is interruption of antivirus scanning, especially in mail gateways, file-upload workflows, or systems processing untrusted files.
Executive priority
Address during normal vulnerability remediation, with higher priority for systems that gate malware detection for email or file intake. The known impact is service disruption, not data theft or system takeover, and the bundle provides no active exploitation evidence.
Technical view
CVE-2018-15378 is a CWE-125 out-of-bounds read in ClamAV before 0.100.2, within unmew11() in libclamav/mew.c. A crafted EXE can trigger invalid memory access during MEW unpacking, causing denial of service. The supplied sources do not provide CVSS details.
Likely exposure
Organizations running ClamAV before 0.100.2 are most exposed where ClamAV scans untrusted EXE files, email attachments, downloads, or uploaded files. Exposure depends on whether vulnerable ClamAV versions remain deployed in servers, containers, appliances, or distribution packages.
Exploitation context
The source bundle describes exploitation through a specially crafted EXE file that is scanned by ClamAV. It does not show CISA KEV listing, active exploitation, public exploit use, or remote code execution. Treat this as a denial-of-service risk unless vendor evidence says otherwise.
Researcher notes
Evidence is clear on affected component, trigger class, and fixed upstream threshold. Evidence is incomplete for CVSS, exact downstream package versions, exploit availability, and exploitation in the wild. Validate against local packaging because distribution backports may fix older version strings.
Mitigation direction
- Upgrade ClamAV to 0.100.2 or a vendor-packaged fixed release.
- Apply relevant Debian, Ubuntu, Gentoo, or vendor security updates.
- Check Cisco/ClamAV guidance for supported fixed versions.
- Prioritize scanners handling email, uploads, downloads, or untrusted executables.
- Monitor antivirus service health after processing suspicious EXE files.
Validation and detection
- Inventory all ClamAV installations and package sources.
- Confirm deployed versions are not earlier than 0.100.2.
- Review distribution changelogs for CVE-2018-15378 fixes.
- Identify mail gateways and upload services scanning EXE content.
- Check logs for ClamAV crashes or scan interruptions.
Public sources used
Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.
Conservative CVE-to-ATT&CK context
These mappings and lookup hints may be relevant to the vulnerability behavior, CWE, affected product, or exposure path. Glexia-inferred context is not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, CWE, or CVE Program mapping.
ATT&CK lookup starting points
Use these exact CWE pages and searches to review the Glexia ATT&CK library from this CVE's weakness and description context.
CWE-125: Exact CWE lookup
Use the exact CWE identifier as the starting point before reviewing related ATT&CK behavior. Open the exact CWE lookup page first, then review the ATT&CK searches from that MITRE weakness context. This is a Glexia lookup hint, not an official ATT&CK mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupCVE-2018-15378 mapping review
Open the CVE-to-ATT&CK bridge for reviewed, inferred, or future official mappings tied to this CVE.
Open ATT&CK lookup- Severity
- Unknown
- CVSS
- Not scored
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
CNA and ADP enrichment extracted from CVE v5
These fields come from the CVE record and ADP containers, not from Glexia's Take. They preserve time-varying source decisions such as CISA SSVC, KEV status, CVSS metrics, and provider references.
CVSS and timeline data
No CVSS vectors or timeline events were available in the normalized CVE source material.
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- [debian-lts-announce] 20181024 [SECURITY] [DLA 1553-1] clamav security updateCVE reference · mailing-list, x_refsource_MLIST
- https://bugzilla.clamav.net/show_bug.cgi?id=12170CVE reference · x_refsource_CONFIRM
- 83000CVE reference · third-party-advisory, x_refsource_SECUNIA
- USN-3789-2CVE reference · vendor-advisory, x_refsource_UBUNTU
- USN-3789-1CVE reference · vendor-advisory, x_refsource_UBUNTU
- https://www.flexera.com/company/secunia-research/advisories/SR-2018-23.htmlCVE reference · x_refsource_MISC
- GLSA-201904-12CVE reference · vendor-advisory, x_refsource_GENTOO
Products and packages named in the record
CWE details
CWE links open Glexia weakness intelligence pages with official CWE context, developer remediation guidance, and related CVE mappings.
Out-of-bounds Read
Out-of-bounds Read represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.