CVE intelligence and bounded remediation

CVE-2018-19417 — An issue was discovered in the MQTT server in Contiki-NG before 4.2

Critical CVSS 10

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.

Severity
Critical
CVSS
10 (3.0)
Published
2018-11-21
CISA KEV
Not currently listed
Ecosystem
software/application
Weaknesses
CWE-119

Affected products

  • contiki-ng / contiki-ng

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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