glibc: integer overflow in malloc functions
Published Feb 2, 2018
9.8
CRITICALCVSS 3.0
EPSS 2.19%
Description
The malloc implementation in the GNU C Library (aka glibc or libc6), from version 2.24 to 2.26 on powerpc, and only in version 2.26 on i386, did not properly handle malloc calls with arguments close to SIZE_MAX and could return a pointer to a heap region that is smaller than requested, eventually leading to heap corruption.
Affected products
No data.
No data.
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5
compat-glibc
Not affected
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5
glibc
Not affected
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6
compat-glibc
Not affected
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6
glibc
Not affected
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7
compat-glibc
Not affected
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7
glibc
Not affected
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8
glibc
Not affected
| Product | Package | State | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 | compat-glibc | Not affected | n/a |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 | glibc | Not affected | n/a |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 | compat-glibc | Not affected | n/a |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 | glibc | Not affected | n/a |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 | compat-glibc | Not affected | n/a |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 | glibc | Not affected | n/a |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 | glibc | Not affected | n/a |
No package ranges for this CVE.
Remediation
Red Hat statement
This issue did not affect the versions of glibc and compat-glibc as shipped with Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5, 6, and 7.
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:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
1 other source (Red Hat) ▾
CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:L
AV:N/AC:L/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
2021–2026- EPSS v1
- EPSS v2
- EPSS v3
- EPSS v5
Percentile over time
- EPSS v1
- EPSS v2
- EPSS v3
- EPSS v5
Table of values (14 key points)
Flat stretches are collapsed; showing up to 120 newest points.
| Date | Score | Percentile | Model |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 1, 2026 | 2.19% (0.02189) | 81.77th | v5 (v2026.06.15) |
| Jun 15, 2026 | 2.23% (0.02231) | 80.40th | v5 (v2026.06.15) |
| Jul 20, 2024 | 0.26% (0.00264) | 66.50th | v3 (v2023.03.01) |
| Feb 8, 2024 | 0.26% (0.00264) | 65.15th | v3 (v2023.03.01) |
| May 8, 2023 | 0.26% (0.00264) | 62.51th | v3 (v2023.03.01) |
| Mar 7, 2023 | 0.20% (0.00198) | 55.89th | v3 (v2023.03.01) |
| Mar 6, 2023 | 0.95% (0.00954) | 36.37th | v2 (v2022.01.01) |
| Sep 2, 2022 | 0.95% (0.00954) | 34.50th | v2 (v2022.01.01) |
| Apr 1, 2022 | 0.95% (0.00954) | 32.50th | v2 (v2022.01.01) |
| Feb 4, 2022 | 0.95% (0.00954) | 16.28th | v2 (v2022.01.01) |
| Feb 3, 2022 | 0.83% (0.00833) | 24.58th | v1 |
| Jan 6, 2022 | 0.83% (0.00833) | 23.96th | v1 |
| Sep 1, 2021 | 0.83% (0.00833) | 57.50th | v1 |
| Apr 14, 2021 | 0.83% (0.00833) | 0.00th | v1 |
References (7)
- https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2018-6551 Vendor Advisory
- https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1542119 Issue Tracking
- https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2018-6551
- https://security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20190404-0003/ x_refsource_CONFIRM
- https://sourceware.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=22774 x_refsource_CONFIRMIssue TrackingMailing ListThird Party Advisory
- https://sourceware.org/git/?p=glibc.git%3Ba=commit%3Bh=8e448310d74b283c5cd02b9ed7fb997b47bf9b22 x_refsource_CONFIRM
- https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2018-6551
| Link | Providers | Tags |
|---|---|---|
| https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2018-6551 | Vendor Advisory | |
| https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1542119 | Issue Tracking | |
| https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2018-6551 | ||
| https://security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20190404-0003/ | x_refsource_CONFIRM | |
| https://sourceware.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=22774 | x_refsource_CONFIRMIssue TrackingMailing ListThird Party Advisory | |
| https://sourceware.org/git/?p=glibc.git%3Ba=commit%3Bh=8e448310d74b283c5cd02b9ed7fb997b47bf9b22 | x_refsource_CONFIRM | |
| https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2018-6551 |
Change history (0)
No recorded changes yet.