Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
CVE-2018-16842 affects the curl command-line tool in versions 7.14.1 through 7.61.1. A memory over-read can expose some information or crash the tool. The score is medium, and the CVSS vector indicates local access and user interaction are required.
Executive priority
Treat as routine but necessary patching. It is not supported as actively exploited in the provided sources, but old curl versions are common in images and can persist unnoticed.
Technical view
The issue is a CWE-125 heap-based buffer over-read in tool_msgs.c:voutf(). The affected range is curl 7.14.1 through 7.61.1. Reported impacts are confidentiality loss and denial of service, with no integrity impact in the provided CVSS data.
Likely exposure
Exposure is limited to systems, containers, or build images containing the affected curl command-line versions. Vendor advisories from Debian, Ubuntu, Gentoo, and Red Hat indicate distribution packages were relevant.
Exploitation context
The source bundle does not show CISA KEV listing or any cited evidence of active exploitation. The CVSS vector is local with required user interaction, which lowers urgency compared with remotely exploitable service flaws.
Researcher notes
Focus validation on the curl tool, affected version range, and vendor backport status. Avoid assuming libcurl exposure from this bundle alone because the described vulnerable function is in tool_msgs.c:voutf().
Mitigation direction
- Upgrade curl using the applicable vendor security update.
- Confirm installed curl is outside 7.14.1 through 7.61.1 or vendor-patched.
- Review the curl project advisory for exact fixed-version guidance.
- Prioritize long-lived systems, containers, and developer images using curl.
Validation and detection
- Inventory curl versions across endpoints, servers, and container images.
- Check package changelogs for vendor backports addressing CVE-2018-16842.
- Verify vulnerability scanners distinguish upstream versions from patched distribution builds.
- Confirm remediation against Debian, Ubuntu, Gentoo, Red Hat, or curl advisory references.
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-2018-16842 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
- Medium
- CVSS
- 4.4 (3.0)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:L
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 vector scores
1 official scoreWe collect every scored CVSS vector available in the official CNA and ADP containers. When more than one version is present, the table keeps the source vectors side by side instead of collapsing them into the highest score.
CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:L1.82.5Primary CVE scoreVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.0 score
4.4MediumVector: CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:L
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- GLSA-201903-03CVE reference · vendor-advisory, x_refsource_GENTOO
- DSA-4331CVE reference · vendor-advisory, x_refsource_DEBIAN
- [debian-lts-announce] 20181106 [SECURITY] [DLA 1568-1] curl security updateCVE reference · mailing-list, x_refsource_MLIST
- https://curl.haxx.se/docs/CVE-2018-16842.htmlCVE reference · x_refsource_MISC
- https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=CVE-2018-16842CVE reference · x_refsource_CONFIRM
- https://github.com/curl/curl/commit/d530e92f59ae9bb2d47066c3c460b25d2ffeb211CVE reference · x_refsource_CONFIRM
- USN-3805-2CVE reference · vendor-advisory, x_refsource_UBUNTU
- USN-3805-1CVE reference · vendor-advisory, x_refsource_UBUNTU
- RHSA-2019:2181CVE reference · vendor-advisory, x_refsource_REDHAT
- https://www.oracle.com/technetwork/security-advisory/cpuoct2019-5072832.htmlCVE reference · x_refsource_MISC
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.