strongswan: integer underflow leads to buffer overflow and denial of service in stroke_socket.c
Published May 31, 2018
6.5
MEDIUMCVSS 3.0
EPSS 3.97%
Description
In stroke_socket.c in strongSwan before 5.6.3, a missing packet length check could allow a buffer underflow, which may lead to resource exhaustion and denial of service while reading from the socket.
Affected products
-
- Version 5.6.3StatusaffectedConstraints<5.6.3
- 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 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| strongSwan | strongSwan | n/a |
|
Configuration 1
- < 5.6.3
Configuration 2
- 8.0
- 9.0
Configuration 3
- 14.04
- 16.04
- 18.04
No data.
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7
strongimcv
Will not fix
| Product | Package | State | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 | strongimcv | Will not fix | n/a |
No package ranges for this CVE.
Remediation
Red Hat mitigation
On Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 only root has access to /var/run/charon.ctl so you need to be already root to exploit the vulnerability.
Metrics
No CVSS v4.0 score for this CVE.
No CVSS v3.1 score for this CVE.
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
1 other source (Red Hat) ▾
CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
AV:N/AC:L/Au:S/C:N/I:N/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
2021–2026- EPSS v1
- EPSS v2
- EPSS v3
- EPSS v4
- EPSS v5
Percentile over time
- EPSS v1
- EPSS v2
- EPSS v3
- EPSS v4
- EPSS v5
Table of values (28 key points)
Flat stretches are collapsed; showing up to 120 newest points.
| Date | Score | Percentile | Model |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 1, 2026 | 3.97% (0.03968) | 90.14th | v5 (v2026.06.15) |
| Jun 15, 2026 | 4.01% (0.04009) | 89.19th | v5 (v2026.06.15) |
| Dec 2, 2025 | 4.30% (0.04302) | 88.50th | v4 (v2025.03.14) |
| Nov 21, 2025 | 5.53% (0.05529) | 89.83th | v4 (v2025.03.14) |
| Nov 18, 2025 | 9.09% (0.09092) | 91.81th | v4 (v2025.03.14) |
| Mar 30, 2025 | 5.17% (0.05174) | 88.92th | v4 (v2025.03.14) |
| Mar 29, 2025 | 8.32% (0.08322) | 86.86th | v4 (v2025.03.14) |
| Mar 22, 2025 | 5.17% (0.05174) | 89.02th | v4 (v2025.03.14) |
| Mar 17, 2025 | 4.02% (0.04022) | 87.70th | v4 (v2025.03.14) |
| Dec 12, 2024 | 0.57% (0.00569) | 78.58th | v3 (v2023.03.01) |
| Mar 29, 2024 | 0.57% (0.00569) | 77.41th | v3 (v2023.03.01) |
| Dec 25, 2023 | 0.57% (0.00569) | 75.41th | v3 (v2023.03.01) |
| Nov 8, 2023 | 0.73% (0.00725) | 78.45th | v3 (v2023.03.01) |
| Oct 22, 2023 | 0.85% (0.00848) | 80.27th | v3 (v2023.03.01) |
| Jul 8, 2023 | 1.20% (0.01199) | 83.29th | v3 (v2023.03.01) |
| Jun 12, 2023 | 0.68% (0.00680) | 77.13th | v3 (v2023.03.01) |
| May 25, 2023 | 0.71% (0.00714) | 77.68th | v3 (v2023.03.01) |
| May 10, 2023 | 0.75% (0.00748) | 78.26th | v3 (v2023.03.01) |
| May 8, 2023 | 0.70% (0.00701) | 77.37th | v3 (v2023.03.01) |
| Mar 7, 2023 | 1.24% (0.01236) | 83.29th | v3 (v2023.03.01) |
| Mar 6, 2023 | 1.28% (0.01282) | 68.34th | v2 (v2022.01.01) |
| Feb 22, 2023 | 1.28% (0.01282) | 68.05th | v2 (v2022.01.01) |
| Apr 1, 2022 | 1.28% (0.01282) | 65.91th | v2 (v2022.01.01) |
| Feb 4, 2022 | 1.28% (0.01282) | 41.72th | v2 (v2022.01.01) |
| Feb 3, 2022 | 2.57% (0.02567) | 55.02th | v1 |
| Jan 6, 2022 | 2.57% (0.02567) | 54.58th | v1 |
| Sep 1, 2021 | 2.57% (0.02567) | 78.88th | v1 |
| Apr 14, 2021 | 2.57% (0.02567) | 0.00th | v1 |
References (14)
- http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2019-11/msg00077.html vendor-advisory
- http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2019-12/msg00001.html vendor-advisory
- http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2020-03/msg00047.html vendor-advisory
- http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/172833/strongSwan-VPN-Charon-Server-Buffer-Overflow.html
- http://www.kb.cert.org/vuls/id/338343 third-party-advisoryThird Party AdvisoryUS Government Resource
- http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/104263 vdb-entryThird Party AdvisoryVDB Entry
- https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2018-5388 Vendor Advisory
- https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1581867 Issue Tracking
- https://git.strongswan.org/?p=strongswan.git%3Ba=commitdiff%3Bh=0acd1ab4
- https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2018-5388
- https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/201811-16 vendor-advisoryThird Party Advisory
- https://usn.ubuntu.com/3771-1/ vendor-advisoryThird Party Advisory
- https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2018-5388
- https://www.debian.org/security/2018/dsa-4229 vendor-advisoryThird Party Advisory
Change history (0)
No recorded changes yet.