tcpdump: Buffer overflow in the -F command line argument parser
Published Oct 3, 2019
7.8
HIGHCVSS 3.1
EPSS 0.63%
Description
The command-line argument parser in tcpdump before 4.99.0 has a buffer overflow in tcpdump.c:read_infile(). To trigger this vulnerability the attacker needs to create a 4GB file on the local filesystem and to specify the file name as the value of the -F command-line argument of tcpdump.
Affected products
-
- Version unspecifiedStatusaffectedConstraints<4.99.0
- Version
Default status is the baseline for the product, each version can override it (e.g. patched versions marked unaffected).
| Vendor | Product | Default status | Versions | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Tcpdump Group | Tcpdump | n/a |
|
No data.
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6
tcpdump
Out of support scope
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7
tcpdump
Out of support scope
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8
tcpdump
Fix deferred
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9
tcpdump
Not affected
| Product | Package | State | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 | tcpdump | Out of support scope | n/a |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 | tcpdump | Out of support scope | n/a |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 | tcpdump | Fix deferred | n/a |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 | tcpdump | Not affected | n/a |
No package ranges for this CVE.
Remediation
Red Hat statement
This flaw has been rated as having a security impact of Low. See the discussion on upstream issue https://github.com/the-tcpdump-group/libpcap/issues/855 for more information.
Metrics
No CVSS v4.0 score for this CVE.
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:L
AV:L/AC:M/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P
This CVE is not in the KEV list.
No CISA SSVC assessment for this CVE yet.
Estimated probability of exploitation in the wild in the next 30 days (FIRST EPSS). As of Oct 1, 2026.
Score over time
2022–2026- EPSS v2
- EPSS v3
- EPSS v4
- EPSS v5
Percentile over time
- EPSS v2
- EPSS v3
- EPSS v4
- EPSS v5
Table of values (10 key points)
Flat stretches are collapsed; showing up to 120 newest points.
| Date | Score | Percentile | Model |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 1, 2026 | 0.63% (0.00626) | 48.07th | v5 (v2026.06.15) |
| Jun 15, 2026 | 0.63% (0.00626) | 45.06th | v5 (v2026.06.15) |
| Mar 17, 2025 | 0.06% (0.00056) | 14.83th | v4 (v2025.03.14) |
| Dec 12, 2024 | 0.10% (0.00099) | 42.70th | v3 (v2023.03.01) |
| Jul 10, 2024 | 0.10% (0.00099) | 41.43th | v3 (v2023.03.01) |
| Mar 7, 2023 | 0.10% (0.00099) | 39.38th | v3 (v2023.03.01) |
| Mar 6, 2023 | 0.89% (0.00885) | 27.89th | v2 (v2022.01.01) |
| Sep 10, 2022 | 0.89% (0.00885) | 26.24th | v2 (v2022.01.01) |
| Apr 1, 2022 | 0.89% (0.00885) | 24.24th | v2 (v2022.01.01) |
| Feb 10, 2022 | 0.89% (0.00885) | 10.89th | v2 (v2022.01.01) |
References (5)
- https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2018-16301 Vendor Advisory
- https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1760500 Issue Tracking
- https://github.com/the-tcpdump-group/tcpdump/commit/ad7c25bc0decf96dc7768c9e903734d38528b1bd x_refsource_CONFIRM
- https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2018-16301
- https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2018-16301
Change history (0)
No recorded changes yet.