binutils — security advisory
A heap-based buffer over-read issue was discovered in the function sec_merge_hash_lookup in merge.c in the Binary File Descriptor (BFD) library (aka libbfd), as distributed in GNU Binutils 2.31, because _bfd_add_merge_section mishandles section merges when size is not a multiple of entsize. A specially crafted ELF allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service, as demonstrated by ld.
- Products
- binutils
- Affected versions
- Not specified
- Fixed versions
- 2.32.51.20190707-1
- CVEs
- CVE-2018-18605
- Confirmed fixed CVEs
- Not specified
- Updated in this feed
- 1 Nov 2026, 01:32 UTC · Revision 1
Source evidence
A heap-based buffer over-read issue was discovered in the function sec_merge_hash_lookup in merge.c in the Binary File Descriptor (BFD) library (aka libbfd), as distributed in GNU Binutils 2.31, because _bfd_add_merge_section mishandles section merges when size is not a multiple of entsize. A specially crafted ELF allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service, as demonstrated by ld.
osv:DEBIAN-CVE-2018-18605
binutils
Fixed versions: 2.32.51.20190707-1
binutils
Fixed versions: 2.32.51.20190707-1
binutils
Fixed versions: 2.32.51.20190707-1
Complete source record
{
"id": "c155b220011c6b9d3e7b3ac5af4726a7ce653e20f64c3943c2cbf8604683c49d",
"url": "https://osv.dev/vulnerability/DEBIAN-CVE-2018-18605",
"method": "structured",
"payload": {
"kind": "advisory",
"title": "DEBIAN-CVE-2018-18605",
"summary": "A heap-based buffer over-read issue was discovered in the function sec_merge_hash_lookup in merge.c in the Binary File Descriptor (BFD) library (aka libbfd), as distributed in GNU Binutils 2.31, because _bfd_add_merge_section mishandles section merges when size is not a multiple of entsize. A specially crafted ELF allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service, as demonstrated by ld.",
"evidence": "osv:DEBIAN-CVE-2018-18605",
"products": [
{
"name": {
"value": "binutils",
"evidence": "/affected/0/package/name"
},
"prerequisites": [],
"fixed_versions": [
{
"value": "2.32.51.20190707-1",
"evidence": "/affected/0/ranges"
}
],
"affected_versions": []
},
{
"name": {
"value": "binutils",
"evidence": "/affected/1/package/name"
},
"prerequisites": [],
"fixed_versions": [
{
"value": "2.32.51.20190707-1",
"evidence": "/affected/1/ranges"
}
],
"affected_versions": []
},
{
"name": {
"value": "binutils",
"evidence": "/affected/2/package/name"
},
"prerequisites": [],
"fixed_versions": [
{
"value": "2.32.51.20190707-1",
"evidence": "/affected/2/ranges"
}
],
"affected_versions": []
}
],
"severity": "medium",
"structured": {
"id": "DEBIAN-CVE-2018-18605",
"aliases": [
"DEBIAN-CVE-2018-18605"
],
"metrics": [
{
"type": "CVSS_V3",
"score": "CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H"
}
],
"affected": [
{
"ranges": [
{
"type": "ECOSYSTEM",
"events": [
{
"introduced": "0"
},
{
"fixed": "2.32.51.20190707-1"
}
]
}
],
"package": {
"name": "binutils",
"purl": "pkg:deb/debian/binutils?arch=source&distro=bookworm",
"ecosystem": "Debian:12"
},
"database_specific": {
"source": "https://storage.googleapis.com/debian-osv/debian-cve-osv/DEBIAN-CVE-2018-18605.json"
},
"ecosystem_specific": {
"urgency": "unimportant"
}
},
{
"ranges": [
{
"type": "ECOSYSTEM",
"events": [
{
"introduced": "0"
},
{
"fixed": "2.32.51.20190707-1"
}
]
}
],
"package": {
"name": "binutils",
"purl": "pkg:deb/debian/binutils?arch=source&distro=trixie",
"ecosystem": "Debian:13"
},
"database_specific": {
"source": "https://storage.googleapis.com/debian-osv/debian-cve-osv/DEBIAN-CVE-2018-18605.json"
},
"ecosystem_specific": {
"urgency": "unimportant"
}
},
{
"ranges": [
{
"type": "ECOSYSTEM",
"events": [
{
"introduced": "0"
},
{
"fixed": "2.32.51.20190707-1"
}
]
}
],
"package": {
"name": "binutils",
"purl": "pkg:deb/debian/binutils?arch=source&distro=forky",
"ecosystem": "Debian:14"
},
"database_specific": {
"source": "https://storage.googleapis.com/debian-osv/debian-cve-osv/DEBIAN-CVE-2018-18605.json"
},
"ecosystem_specific": {
"urgency": "unimportant"
}
}
],
"modified": "2026-10-23T18:04:47.198414571Z",
"provider": "osv",
"upstream": [
"CVE-2018-18605"
],
"references": [
"https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2018-18605"
]
},
"related_cves": [
{
"value": "CVE-2018-18605",
"evidence": "/upstream"
}
],
"security_relevant": true,
"severity_evidence": "/severity/0/score"
},
"source_id": "core-osv",
"document_id": 423748,
"published_at": "2018-10-23T17:29:00.363+00:00"
}