CVE-2018-17985 in libiberty
Summary
by MITRE
An issue was discovered in cp-demangle.c in GNU libiberty, as distributed in GNU Binutils 2.31. There is a stack consumption problem caused by the cplus_demangle_type function making recursive calls to itself in certain scenarios involving many 'P' characters.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 05/22/2023
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2018-17985 represents a critical stack consumption issue within the GNU libiberty library, specifically within the cp-demangle.c component of GNU Binutils version 2.31. This flaw manifests as a recursive function call pattern that leads to excessive stack usage during the demangling process of C++ symbols. The vulnerability is particularly concerning because it occurs during the processing of symbol tables in binary files, making it exploitable through various attack vectors involving malformed binary inputs.
The technical root cause of this vulnerability lies in the cplus_demangle_type function which exhibits recursive behavior when encountering specific patterns containing multiple 'P' characters. These 'P' characters typically represent pointer types in C++ symbol mangling conventions, and when processed in excessive quantities, they trigger deep recursion that consumes significant stack memory. The function fails to implement proper recursion depth limits or iterative processing mechanisms, allowing attackers to craft inputs that cause the stack to overflow or consume excessive resources during the demangling operation.
This vulnerability has substantial operational impact across multiple domains where GNU Binutils components are utilized. Systems that process binary files, debug applications, or perform symbol resolution operations become vulnerable to denial of service attacks, as the recursive stack consumption can cause applications to crash or become unresponsive. The attack surface extends to software development tools, debugging utilities, and security analysis frameworks that rely on libiberty for symbol processing. Additionally, the vulnerability affects any system where binary analysis or reverse engineering tools are deployed, as these tools often invoke the demangling functionality to present human-readable symbol names.
The vulnerability aligns with CWE-674, which addresses uncontrolled recursion in software systems, and demonstrates characteristics consistent with stack-based buffer overflow conditions. From an attack perspective, this issue maps to ATT&CK technique T1059.007, which involves the execution of malicious code through command-line interfaces, particularly in contexts where binary processing tools are invoked. The remediation strategy should focus on implementing recursion depth limiting mechanisms, converting recursive algorithms to iterative approaches where possible, and adding proper input validation to prevent excessive recursion patterns. Security practitioners should prioritize updating to patched versions of GNU Binutils, implementing monitoring for unusual stack consumption patterns, and considering sandboxing approaches for binary analysis operations that process untrusted inputs.