CVE-2018-17204: Medium severity Openvswitch OpenvSwitch vulnerability

Published Sep 19, 2018
·
Updated

An issue was discovered in Open vSwitch (OvS) 2.7.x through 2.7.6, affecting parsegrouppropntrselectionmethod in lib/ofp-util.c. When decoding a group mod, it validates the group type and command after the whole group mod has been decoded. The OF1.5 decoder, however, tries to use the type and command earlier, when it might still be invalid. This causes an assertion failure (via OVSNOTREACHED). ovs-vswitchd does not enable support for OpenFlow 1.5 by default.

Affected Software

7 affected componentsFixes available
Openvswitch OpenvSwitch>=2.7.0<=2.7.6
redhat Openstack=10
redhat Openstack=13
Canonical Ubuntu Linux=16.04
Canonical Ubuntu Linux=18.04
Debian Debian Linux=9.0
debian/openvswitch
2.15.0+ds1-2+deb11u53.1.0-2+deb12u13.5.0-13.7.1-3

Remediation

Recommended actions to resolve this vulnerability, in priority order.

  1. Upgrade

    Upgrade debian/openvswitch to a version that resolves this vulnerability.

    Fixed in 2.15.0+ds1-2+deb11u5Fixed in 3.1.0-2+deb12u1Fixed in 3.5.0-1Fixed in 3.7.1-3
  2. Upgrade

    Upgrade openvswitch/ovs to a version that resolves this vulnerability.

    Patch 4af6da3b275b764b1afe194df6499b33d2bf4cde
  3. Compensating control

    Do not enable OpenFlow 1.5 support in ovs-vswitchd by default (leave OpenFlow 1.5 disabled) to avoid triggering the OF1.5 decoder behavior described.

Event History

Sep 19, 2018
CVE Published
via MITRE·04:00 PM
Data Sourced
via MITRE·04:00 PM
Description
Data Sourced
via NVD·04:29 PM
RemedyDescriptionSeverityWeaknessAffected Software
Sep 25, 2018
Data Sourced
via Red Hat·01:40 AM
DescriptionSeverityAffected Software
Jan 11, 2024
Data Sourced
via Launchpad·10:54 PM
Description
Sep 7, 2025
Data Sourced
via Ubuntu·03:47 AM
RemedyDescriptionSeverityAffected Software
Jul 16, 2026
Data Sourced
via Debian·11:21 AM
DescriptionAffected Software

Frequently Asked Questions

1

What is the severity of CVE-2018-17204?

The severity of CVE-2018-17204 is medium with a CVSS score of 4.3.

2

What is the affected software for CVE-2018-17204?

The affected software for CVE-2018-17204 includes Open vSwitch versions up to and including 2.7.6, Debian Openvswitch, Redhat Openstack versions 10 and 13, and Canonical Ubuntu Linux versions 16.04 and 18.04.

3

How do I fix CVE-2018-17204?

To fix CVE-2018-17204, you should update to Open vSwitch version 2.10.7+ds1-0+deb10u1 or later, or version 2.9.2-0ubuntu0.18.04.3 or later.

4

Where can I find more information about CVE-2018-17204?

You can find more information about CVE-2018-17204 on the Red Hat Security Advisories: RHSA-2018:3500, RHSA-2019:0053, and RHSA-2019:0081.

5

What is the Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE) identifier for CVE-2018-17204?

The Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE) identifier for CVE-2018-17204 is CWE-617.

Contact

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