CVE-2018-18607
binutils: NULL pointer dereference in elf_link_input_bfd in elflink.c
Severity
LowRed Hat Product Security
CVSS 3.0
Review impact separately from score.
Published · October 21, 2018
Updated · November 21, 2025
Description
An issue was discovered in elf_link_input_bfd in elflink.c in the Binary File Descriptor (BFD) library (aka libbfd), as distributed in GNU Binutils 2.31. There is a NULL pointer dereference in elf_link_input_bfd when used for finding STT_TLS symbols without any TLS section. A specially crafted ELF allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service, as demonstrated by ld.
Statement
Red Hat has determined this flaw to be of low impact as successful exploitation results in a crash (denial of service) of the application utilizing the binutils library and does not impact system-wide stability or lead to arbitrary code execution or memory corruption.
CVSS score applicability
The CVSS score(s) listed for this vulnerability do not reflect the associated product's status, and are included for informational purposes to better understand the severity of this vulnerability.
Mitigation
No mitigation is specified in collected source.
CVSS / CWE
CVSS 3.0 · 3.3CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L
CWE-476 · NULL Pointer Dereference