CVE intelligence and bounded remediation

CVE-2018-18765 — An exploitable arbitrary memory read vulnerability exists in the MQTT packet-parsing functionality of Cesanta Mongoose 6.13

Critical CVSS 9.1

An exploitable arbitrary memory read vulnerability exists in the MQTT packet-parsing functionality of Cesanta Mongoose 6.13. It is a heap-based buffer over-read in mg_mqtt_next_subscribe_topic. A specially crafted MQTT SUBSCRIBE packet can cause an arbitrary out-of-bounds memory read potentially resulting in information disclosure and denial of service. An attacker needs to send a specially crafted MQTT packet over the network to trigger this vulnerability.

Severity
Critical
CVSS
9.1 (3.0)
Published
2018-10-29
CISA KEV
Not currently listed
Ecosystem
software/application
Weaknesses
CWE-125

Affected products

  • cesanta / mongoose / 6.13

Matched remediation archetype

Buffer bounds, memory safety, and memory corruption

This catalog composition supplies bounded fallback guidance. Explicitly reviewed curated workflows load with the complete record below.

Check exposure

  • Identify affected native-code versions, build flags, architectures, parsers, codecs, drivers, and input paths in all shipped artifacts.
  • Determine whether untrusted data reaches the affected routine and the process privilege, sandbox, and network exposure.
  • Confirm statically linked, vendored, firmware, and platform-provided copies, not only package-manager records.

Remediate safely

  • Apply the maintained upstream correction or replace the affected component, then rebuild every dependent artifact from clean inputs.
  • Adopt bounds-checked interfaces, validated sizes and integer conversions, clear ownership, and memory-safe components where practical.
  • Enable supported compiler and runtime hardening and add sanitized tests and fuzz regression seeds derived from non-weaponized fixtures.

Authoritative sources

Complete CVE record and remediation plan

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