Heap-based buffer overflow in curl
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Network
- Privileges required
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Impact type
- Code execution
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- High · High · High
- Fix status
- Partial Red Hat: 8 fixed, 7 without a fix
Attack profile from CVSS 3.0 · NVD. Fix status from CNA and Red Hat. Impact type from CWE-122 and the CVSS impact.
Summary
The URL percent-encoding decode function in libcurl before 7.51.0 is called `curl_easy_unescape`. Internally, even if this function would be made to allocate a unscape destination buffer larger than 2GB, it would return that new length in a signed 32 bit integer variable, thus the length would get either just truncated or both truncated and turned negative. That could then lead to libcurl writing outside of its heap based buffer.
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
CISA ADP · SSVC 2.0.3
- Exploitation
- None
- Automatable
- No
- Technical impact
- Partial
The decision (Track, Attend, Act) also depends on your mission and well-being impact; see CISA's SSVC guide.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Curl Project | curl | 7.51.0 | — | No fix listed | CNA |
- curl VendorThe Curl Project Affected 7.51.0 Fixed in — No fix listed CNA
Remediation
Red Hat 2 advisories
- RHSA-2018:3558 Released 2018-11-13 · Red Hat rating Moderatehttpd24 security, bug fix, and enhancement update
- Red Hat Software Collections for Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server (v. 6) httpd24-curl-7.61.1-1.el6, httpd24-httpd-2.4.34-7.el6, httpd24-httpd-devel-2.4.34-7.el6 +11
- Red Hat Software Collections for Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server (v. 7) httpd24-curl-7.61.1-1.el7, httpd24-httpd-2.4.34-7.el7, httpd24-httpd-devel-2.4.34-7.el7 +12
- Red Hat Software Collections for Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server EUS (v. 7.4) httpd24-curl-7.61.1-1.el7, httpd24-httpd-2.4.34-7.el7, httpd24-httpd-devel-2.4.34-7.el7 +12
- Red Hat Software Collections for Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server EUS (v. 7.5) httpd24-curl-7.61.1-1.el7, httpd24-httpd-2.4.34-7.el7, httpd24-httpd-devel-2.4.34-7.el7 +12
- Red Hat Software Collections for Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server EUS (v. 7.6) httpd24-curl-7.61.1-1.el7, httpd24-httpd-2.4.34-7.el7, httpd24-httpd-devel-2.4.34-7.el7 +12
- Red Hat Software Collections for Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation (v. 6) httpd24-curl-7.61.1-1.el6, httpd24-httpd-2.4.34-7.el6, httpd24-httpd-devel-2.4.34-7.el6 +11
- Red Hat Software Collections for Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation (v. 7) httpd24-curl-7.61.1-1.el7, httpd24-httpd-2.4.34-7.el7, httpd24-httpd-devel-2.4.34-7.el7 +12
- RHSA-2018:2486 Released 2018-08-16 · Red Hat rating ImportantRed Hat JBoss Core Services Apache HTTP Server 2.4.29 security update
- Red Hat JBoss Core Services
Vendor assessments
Red Hat
Red Hat rating: Low. Red Hat's page for this CVE →
| Product | Status | Plan or fix |
|---|---|---|
| .NET Core 1.0 on Red Hat Enterprise Linux | Affected | No fix planned: Out of support scope |
| .NET Core 1.1 on Red Hat Enterprise Linux | Affected | No fix planned: Out of support scope |
| .NET Core 2.0 on Red Hat Enterprise Linux | Affected | No fix planned: Out of support scope |
| .NET Core 2.1 on Red Hat Enterprise Linux | Affected | No fix planned: Will not fix |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 | Affected | No fix planned: Will not fix |
| Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization 3 | Affected | No fix planned: Will not fix |
| Red Hat JBoss Enterprise Web Server 3 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat JBoss Core Services | Fixed | RHSA-2018:2486 |
| Red Hat Software Collections for Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server (v. 6) | Fixed | RHSA-2018:3558 |
| Red Hat Software Collections for Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server (v. 7) | Fixed | RHSA-2018:3558 |
| Red Hat Software Collections for Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server EUS (v. 7.4) | Fixed | RHSA-2018:3558 |
| Red Hat Software Collections for Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server EUS (v. 7.5) | Fixed | RHSA-2018:3558 |
| Red Hat Software Collections for Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server EUS (v. 7.6) | Fixed | RHSA-2018:3558 |
| Red Hat Software Collections for Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation (v. 6) | Fixed | RHSA-2018:3558 |
| Red Hat Software Collections for Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation (v. 7) | Fixed | RHSA-2018:3558 |
Not affected: 2 products
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2016-8622
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-xfmx-53v5-938g
References
More The Curl Project vulnerabilities
- TI-2019-02834 Stack-based buffer overflow in curl CVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.8
- TI-2016-07082 Buffer overflow in curl CVSS 3.0CRITICAL 9.8
- TI-2018-12049 Heap-based buffer overflow in curl: CVSS 3.0CRITICAL 9.8
- TI-2016-07081 The function `read_data()` in security.c in curl before version 7.51.0 is vulnerable to memory double free. CVSS 3.0CRITICAL 9.8
- TI-2016-07080 Use after free in curl CVSS 3.0CRITICAL 9.8
- TI-2018-12050 Use after free in curl CVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.8
Sources
- CVE-2016-8622 · CVE Program
- CVE-2016-8622 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-xfmx-53v5-938g · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2016-8622 · Red Hat security data · CC BY 4.0
This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. Sources and licences