CVE-2018-17985: Medium severity GNU binutils vulnerability

Published Oct 4, 2018
·
Updated

An issue was discovered in cp-demangle.c in GNU libiberty, as distributed in GNU Binutils 2.31. There is a stack consumption problem caused by the cplusdemangletype function making recursive calls to itself in certain scenarios involving many 'P' characters.

Affected Software

2 affected componentsFixes available
GNU binutils=2.31
debian/binutils
2.35.2-22.40-22.44-32.46.90.20260712-1

Remediation

Recommended actions to resolve this vulnerability, in priority order.

  1. Upgrade

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

    Fixed in 2.35.2-2Fixed in 2.40-2Fixed in 2.44-3Fixed in 2.46.90.20260712-1
  2. Upgrade

    Upgrade GNU Binutils (GNU libiberty cp-demangle.c, cplus_demangle_type) to a version that resolves this vulnerability.

    Fixed in 2.31

Event History

Oct 4, 2018
CVE Published
via MITRE·11:00 PM
Data Sourced
via MITRE·11:00 PM
Description
Data Sourced
via NVD·11:29 PM
DescriptionSeverityWeaknessAffected Software
Jan 11, 2024
Data Sourced
via Launchpad·10:55 PM
Description
Feb 20, 2026
Data Sourced
via Ubuntu·04:34 PM
RemedyDescriptionSeverityAffected Software
Jul 18, 2026
Data Sourced
via Debian·11:27 AM
DescriptionAffected Software

Frequently Asked Questions

1

What is CVE-2018-17985?

CVE-2018-17985 is a vulnerability in GNU libiberty, as distributed in GNU Binutils 2.31, that causes a stack consumption problem in certain scenarios involving many 'P' characters.

2

Who is affected by CVE-2018-17985?

Users of GNU Binutils 2.31 are affected by CVE-2018-17985.

3

How can I fix CVE-2018-17985?

To fix CVE-2018-17985, upgrade to binutils version 2.35.2-2, 2.40-2, or 2.41-5.

4

Are there any references available for CVE-2018-17985?

Yes, you can find references for CVE-2018-17985 at the following links: [https://gcc.gnu.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=87335](https://gcc.gnu.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=87335), [http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2019-10/msg00072.html](http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2019-10/msg00072.html), [http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2019-11/msg00008.html](http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2019-11/msg00008.html)

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