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CVE Record

CVE-2018-20539: There is a Segmentation fault triggered by illegal address access at liblas::SpatialReference::GetGTIF() (s...

There is a Segmentation fault triggered by illegal address access at liblas::SpatialReference::GetGTIF() (spatialreference.cpp) in libLAS 1.8.1 that will cause a denial of service.

UnknownCVSS not scoredNot KEV-listedUpdated
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Glexia's TakeAutomated analysismoderate

Security readout for executives and security teams

Plain-English summary

CVE-2018-20539 is a crash bug in libLAS 1.8.1. A specially malformed condition can make the library hit an illegal memory address while handling spatial reference data, causing denial of service. Business impact depends on whether libLAS processes untrusted geospatial files in exposed services or automated pipelines.

Executive priority

Prioritize remediation for internet-facing or partner-facing geospatial file processing. For isolated analyst workstations or offline batch jobs, track through normal patch management unless crashes affect availability commitments.

Technical view

The CVE describes a segmentation fault in liblas::SpatialReference::GetGTIF() in spatialreference.cpp in libLAS 1.8.1. The documented impact is denial of service from illegal address access. The source bundle does not provide CVSS, CWE, a vulnerable input format sample, or fixed upstream version.

Likely exposure

Exposure is most likely where libLAS 1.8.1 is installed directly or via Linux distribution packages and used to parse LAS geospatial data from users, partners, or automated feeds. Internal-only offline tooling has lower urgency than public upload or conversion services.

Exploitation context

The provided sources do not show CISA KEV listing or active exploitation. Public information in the bundle supports a denial-of-service crash, not code execution or privilege escalation. Treat exploitability details as incomplete.

Researcher notes

The record is sparse: severity, CVSS, CWE, fixed upstream version, and reproduction details are absent from the provided bundle. Fedora advisory references indicate downstream vendor handling, but the bundle does not include enough detail to name a specific fixed version.

Mitigation direction

  • Inventory systems and containers for libLAS 1.8.1 or distro libLAS packages.
  • Review Fedora and vendor package advisories for fixed builds or backported patches.
  • Update libLAS packages where vendor-supported fixes are available.
  • Restrict untrusted geospatial file processing until affected components are updated.
  • Add process supervision or job isolation around file conversion pipelines.

Validation and detection

  • Confirm deployed libLAS package versions against vendor package metadata.
  • Identify services, jobs, or APIs that invoke libLAS parsing paths.
  • Check whether user-supplied geospatial files can reach libLAS processing.
  • Review crash logs for segmentation faults in SpatialReference or GetGTIF paths.
  • Verify vendor advisory status before closing remediation work.
Prepared
Confidence
medium
Sources
5

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

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CVE-2018-20539 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
4Source 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

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