Samba
CVE-2018-16851
MEDIUM
Vulnerability Assessment
| Weakness |
CWE
OWASP Top 10:2025
A10:2025 - Mishandling of Exceptional Conditions
ASVS 5.0
V16 - Security Logging and Error Handling Null pointer safety, defensive checks
MITRE ATT&CK
1 technique across 1 tactic: Impact The technique list with ATT&CK links and the kill-chain view is part of the Basic plan and up. |
| Impact | CVSS score of 6.5 (MEDIUM). Attack characteristics: network attack vector, low complexity, low privileges required, no user interaction not required. |
| Exploit ScenarioDerived | A remote attacker could crash the application by dereferencing a null pointer by sending crafted requests to the affected application. |
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Alert meAnalysisAI
Samba from version 4.0.0 and before versions 4.7.12, 4.8.7, 4.9.3 is vulnerable to a denial of service. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. This NULL Pointer Dereference vulnerability could allow attackers to crash the application by dereferencing a null pointer.
RemediationAI
A vendor patch is available. Apply the latest security update as soon as possible. Check pointers before dereferencing. Use static analysis tools to detect null pointer paths.
Affects your stack
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Checking this CVE against your own stacks and servers is part of the Basic plan and up.
Technical ContextAI · show details
This vulnerability is classified as NULL Pointer Dereference (CWE-476), which allows attackers to crash the application by dereferencing a null pointer. Samba from version 4.0.0 and before versions 4.7.12, 4.8.7, 4.9.3 is vulnerable to a denial of service. During the processing of an LDAP search before Samba's AD DC returns the LDAP entries to the client, the entries are cached in a single memory object with a maximum size of 256MB. When this size is reached, the Samba process providing the LDAP service will follow the NULL pointer, terminating the process. There is no further vulnerability associated with this issue, merely a denial of service. Affected products include: Samba, Canonical Ubuntu Linux, Debian Debian Linux. Version information: version 4.0.0.
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- Exploit and PoC references, threat intelligence from 22 sources
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Severity by source
AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Primary rating from NVD · only source for this CVE.
CVSS VectorNVD
DescriptionNVD
Samba from version 4.0.0 and before versions 4.7.12, 4.8.7, 4.9.3 is vulnerable to a denial of service. During the processing of an LDAP search before Samba's AD DC returns the LDAP entries to the client, the entries are cached in a single memory object with a maximum size of 256MB. When this size is reached, the Samba process providing the LDAP service will follow the NULL pointer, terminating the process. There is no further vulnerability associated with this issue, merely a denial of service.
Threat Intelligence Overview
How this decision was reached
The engine reads each signal below and applies a fixed list of rules from top to bottom. The first rule that matches sets the recommended action – like a statement, every line is shown.
What every action level means
SSVC AssessmentENISA
Priority Score
Attack Technique
A null pointer dereference occurs when a program attempts to access memory through a pointer that has been set to NULL (address 0x0).
Denial of Service attacks render applications or systems unavailable by overwhelming resources or triggering failure conditions.
Affected Products (CPE)NVD
Samba since version 3.5.0 and before 4.6.4, 4.5.10 and 4.4.14 is vulnerable to remote code execution vulnerability, allo
The RPC code generator in Samba 3.x before 3.4.16, 3.5.x before 3.5.14, and 3.6.x before 3.6.4 does not implement valida
The Netlogon server implementation in smbd in Samba 3.5.x and 3.6.x before 3.6.25, 4.0.x before 4.0.25, 4.1.x before 4.1
The MS-SAMR and MS-LSAD protocol implementations in Samba 3.x and 4.x before 4.2.11, 4.3.x before 4.3.8, and 4.4.x befor
Integer overflow in the read_nttrans_ea_list function in nttrans.c in smbd in Samba 3.x before 3.5.22, 3.6.x before 3.6.
NetBIOS name services daemon (nmbd) in Samba 4.0.x before 4.0.21 and 4.1.x before 4.1.11 allows remote attackers to exec
Heap-based buffer overflow in process.c in smbd in Samba 3.0, as used in the file-sharing service on the BlackBerry Play
The LDAP server in the AD domain controller in Samba 4.x before 4.1.22 does not check return values to ensure successful
Samba before 4.7.3 might allow remote attackers to obtain sensitive information by leveraging failure of the server to c
Use-after-free vulnerability in Samba 4.x before 4.7.3 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via a crafted S
A flaw was found in rsync which could be triggered when rsync compares file checksums. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), t
vfs.c in smbd in Samba 3.x and 4.x before 4.1.22, 4.2.x before 4.2.7, and 4.3.x before 4.3.3, when share names with cert
NVD
CVE.org
EPSS
GitHub PoC
Exploit-DB