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CVE Record

CVE-2018-19497: In The Sleuth Kit (TSK) through 4.6.4, hfs_cat_traverse in tsk/fs/hfs.c does not properly determine when a...

In The Sleuth Kit (TSK) through 4.6.4, hfs_cat_traverse in tsk/fs/hfs.c does not properly determine when a key length is too large, which allows attackers to cause a denial of service (SEGV on unknown address with READ memory access in a tsk_getu16 call in hfs_dir_open_meta_cb in tsk/fs/hfs_dent.c).

UnknownCVSS not scoredNot KEV-listedUpdated
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Glexia's TakeAutomated analysismoderate

Security readout for executives and security teams

Plain-English summary

CVE-2018-19497 is a denial-of-service flaw in The Sleuth Kit through 4.6.4. A malformed HFS filesystem input can crash the tool while it parses directory metadata. Business impact is mainly disruption to forensic or analysis workflows that process untrusted disk images.

Executive priority

Treat this as a workflow resilience issue, not an emergency breach indicator. Patch normal forensic and analysis systems, with higher urgency for automated pipelines that ingest files from outside trusted custody.

Technical view

The issue is in hfs_cat_traverse in tsk/fs/hfs.c. It does not correctly detect an oversized key length, leading to a segmentation fault during a tsk_getu16 read in hfs_dir_open_meta_cb in tsk/fs/hfs_dent.c. The documented impact is denial of service, not code execution.

Likely exposure

Exposure applies to environments running The Sleuth Kit through 4.6.4 that process HFS filesystem data from untrusted or uncontrolled sources. Debian and Fedora published security updates, so packaged deployments should verify whether those fixes are installed.

Exploitation context

The provided sources do not show active exploitation, and this CVE is not listed as KEV. Public upstream fix references and Linux distribution advisories exist. The described attacker outcome is crashing the affected parser, not gaining access or executing code.

Researcher notes

The public record gives clear affected code path and crash behavior, but lacks CVSS, CWE, and detailed fixed-version metadata in the provided bundle. Avoid assuming broader products unless they embed vulnerable The Sleuth Kit code.

Mitigation direction

  • Upgrade affected The Sleuth Kit packages through vendor security channels.
  • For source builds, review and apply the upstream fix referenced by the project.
  • Prioritize systems that process untrusted HFS images or automated evidence feeds.
  • Restrict untrusted image processing until patched where operationally feasible.

Validation and detection

  • Inventory installed The Sleuth Kit versions and package sources.
  • Check Debian or Fedora advisory status for managed hosts.
  • Confirm source builds include the referenced upstream commit or equivalent fix.
  • Review crash telemetry from forensic pipelines for HFS parsing failures.
Prepared
Confidence
medium
Sources
8

Public sources used

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

Potential ATT&CK relevance

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.

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CVE-2018-19497 mapping review

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Vulnerability profileCVE Program record
Severity
Unknown
CVSS
Not scored
Known Exploited
No
Published
Official CVE source material

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.

0CVSS vectors
0Timeline events
0ADP providers
7Source links

CVSS and timeline data

No CVSS vectors or timeline events were available in the normalized CVE source material.

Source materials

Affected products

Products and packages named in the record

VendorProductVersion / packageStatus
n/an/an/aListed
Weakness

CWE details

No CWE listed

CWE links open Glexia weakness intelligence pages with official CWE context, developer remediation guidance, and related CVE mappings.