How severe is CVE-2019-7148?

CVE-2019-7148 has a CVSS 3.x base score of 6.5, rated medium severity. It is exploitable over network with low attack complexity, requires no privileges and user interaction. Impact on confidentiality is none, integrity none, and availability high.

Is CVE-2019-7148 being actively exploited?

It is not currently listed in CISA's KEV catalog. Its EPSS exploit-prediction score is 2% (73rd percentile), an estimate of the probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.

What products are affected by CVE-2019-7148?

CVE-2019-7148 affects Elfutils Project Elfutils. See the affected-products list for the exact vulnerable versions.

How do I fix CVE-2019-7148?

Review the linked vendor and NVD advisories for patched versions and mitigations, then upgrade or apply the recommended workaround.

When was CVE-2019-7148 published?

CVE-2019-7148 was published on 2019-01-29 and last updated on 2026-06-17.

CVE-2019-7148

CVE-2019-7148 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Elfutils Project Elfutils with a CVSS 3.x base score of 6.5. 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-770.

Key facts

Severity: Medium (CVSS 3.x base score 6.5)
CVSS v2: 4.3
EPSS exploit prediction: 2% (73rd percentile)
Actively exploited: Not listed in CISA KEV
Weakness: CWE-770
Affected product: Elfutils Project Elfutils
Published: 2019-01-29
Last modified: 2026-06-17

Description

An attempted excessive memory allocation was discovered in the function read_long_names in elf_begin.c in libelf in elfutils 0.174. Remote attackers could leverage this vulnerability to cause a denial-of-service via crafted elf input, which leads to an out-of-memory exception. NOTE: The maintainers believe this is not a real issue, but instead a "warning caused by ASAN because the allocation is big. By setting ASAN_OPTIONS=allocator_may_return_null=1 and running the reproducer, nothing happens."

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2019-7148?: An attempted excessive memory allocation was discovered in the function read_long_names in elf_begin.c in libelf in elfutils 0.174. Remote attackers could leverage this vulnerability to cause a denial-of-service via crafted elf input, which leads to an out-of-memory exception. NOTE: The maintainers believe this is not a real issue, but instead a "warning caused by ASAN because the allocation is big. By setting ASAN_OPTIONS=allocator_may_return_null=1 and running the reproducer, nothing happens."
How severe is CVE-2019-7148?: CVE-2019-7148 has a CVSS 3.x base score of 6.5, rated medium severity. It is exploitable over network with low attack complexity, requires no privileges and user interaction. Impact on confidentiality is none, integrity none, and availability high.
Is CVE-2019-7148 being actively exploited?: It is not currently listed in CISA's KEV catalog. Its EPSS exploit-prediction score is 2% (73rd percentile), an estimate of the probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.
What products are affected by CVE-2019-7148?: CVE-2019-7148 affects Elfutils Project Elfutils. See the affected-products list for the exact vulnerable versions.
How do I fix CVE-2019-7148?: Review the linked vendor and NVD advisories for patched versions and mitigations, then upgrade or apply the recommended workaround.
When was CVE-2019-7148 published?: CVE-2019-7148 was published on 2019-01-29 and last updated on 2026-06-17.

References

https://sourceware.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=24085

Affected products (1)

cpe:2.3:a:elfutils_project:elfutils:0.174:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

More vulnerabilities in Elfutils Project Elfutils

CVE-2018-16402 — Critical (CVSS 9.8): libelf/elf_end.c in elfutils 0.173 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (double free and application…
CVE-2018-8769 — High (CVSS 7.8): elfutils 0.170 has a buffer over-read in the ebl_dynamic_tag_name function of libebl/ebldynamictagname.c because…
CVE-2014-0172 — Medium (CVSS 6.8): Integer overflow in the check_section function in dwarf_begin_elf.c in the libdw library, as used in elfutils 0.153 and…
CVE-2019-7149 — Medium (CVSS 6.5): A heap-based buffer over-read was discovered in the function read_srclines in dwarf_getsrclines.c in libdw in elfutils…
CVE-2018-18520 — Medium (CVSS 6.5): An Invalid Memory Address Dereference exists in the function elf_end in libelf in elfutils through v0.174. Although…
CVE-2014-9447 — Medium (CVSS 6.4): Directory traversal vulnerability in the read_long_names function in libelf/elf_begin.c in elfutils 0.152 and 0.161…

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