How severe is CVE-2018-19417?

CVE-2018-19417 has a CVSS 3.x base score of 10.0, rated critical severity. It is exploitable over network with low attack complexity, requires no privileges and no user interaction. Impact on confidentiality is high, integrity high, and availability high.

Is CVE-2018-19417 being actively exploited?

It is not currently listed in CISA's KEV catalog. Its EPSS exploit-prediction score is 6% (93rd percentile), an estimate of the probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.

What products are affected by CVE-2018-19417?

CVE-2018-19417 affects Contiki-ng. See the affected-products list for the exact vulnerable versions.

How do I fix CVE-2018-19417?

Review the linked vendor and NVD advisories for patched versions and mitigations, then upgrade or apply the recommended workaround. Given its critical severity, prioritise patching exposed systems.

When was CVE-2018-19417 published?

CVE-2018-19417 was published on 2018-11-21 and last updated on 2026-06-17.

CVE-2018-19417

CVE-2018-19417 is a critical-severity vulnerability in Contiki-ng with a CVSS 3.x base score of 10.0. It is not currently listed as actively exploited by CISA, and its EPSS exploit-prediction score is low. The underlying weakness is classified as CWE-119.

Key facts

Severity: Critical (CVSS 3.x base score 10.0)
CVSS v2: 10.0
EPSS exploit prediction: 6% (93rd percentile)
Actively exploited: Not listed in CISA KEV
Weakness: CWE-119
Affected product: Contiki-ng
Published: 2018-11-21
Last modified: 2026-06-17

Description

An issue was discovered in the MQTT server in Contiki-NG before 4.2. The function parse_publish_vhdr() that parses MQTT PUBLISH messages with a variable length header uses memcpy to input data into a fixed size buffer. The allocated buffer can fit only MQTT_MAX_TOPIC_LENGTH (default 64) bytes, and a length check is missing. This could lead to Remote Code Execution via a stack-smashing attack (overwriting the function return address). Contiki-NG does not separate the MQTT server from other servers and the OS modules, so access to all memory regions is possible.

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2018-19417?: An issue was discovered in the MQTT server in Contiki-NG before 4.2. The function parse_publish_vhdr() that parses MQTT PUBLISH messages with a variable length header uses memcpy to input data into a fixed size buffer. The allocated buffer can fit only MQTT_MAX_TOPIC_LENGTH (default 64) bytes, and a length check is missing. This could lead to Remote Code Execution via a stack-smashing attack (overwriting the function return address). Contiki-NG does not separate the MQTT server from other servers and the OS modules, so access to all memory regions is possible.
How severe is CVE-2018-19417?: CVE-2018-19417 has a CVSS 3.x base score of 10.0, rated critical severity. It is exploitable over network with low attack complexity, requires no privileges and no user interaction. Impact on confidentiality is high, integrity high, and availability high.
Is CVE-2018-19417 being actively exploited?: It is not currently listed in CISA's KEV catalog. Its EPSS exploit-prediction score is 6% (93rd percentile), an estimate of the probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.
What products are affected by CVE-2018-19417?: CVE-2018-19417 affects Contiki-ng. See the affected-products list for the exact vulnerable versions.
How do I fix CVE-2018-19417?: Review the linked vendor and NVD advisories for patched versions and mitigations, then upgrade or apply the recommended workaround. Given its critical severity, prioritise patching exposed systems.
When was CVE-2018-19417 published?: CVE-2018-19417 was published on 2018-11-21 and last updated on 2026-06-17.

References

https://github.com/contiki-ng/contiki-ng/issues/600

Affected products (1)

cpe:2.3:a:contiki-ng:contiki-ng:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

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