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Mongoose CVE-2018-18765

CRITICAL
Out-of-bounds Read (CWE-125)
2018-10-29 cve@mitre.org
9.1
CVSS 3.0 · NVD
View

Vulnerability Assessment

Weakness
CWE
ASVS 5.0
V15 - Secure Coding and Architecture Bounds checking, read limits
MITRE ATT&CK

1 technique across 1 tactic: Collection

The technique list with ATT&CK links and the kill-chain view is part of the Basic plan and up.

Impact

CVSS score of 9.1 (CRITICAL). Attack characteristics: network attack vector, low complexity, no privileges required, no user interaction not required. Public proof-of-concept exploit code is available.

Exploit ScenarioDerived

A remote attacker could read data from memory outside the intended buffer boundaries by sending crafted requests to the affected application. No authentication is required to exploit this vulnerability.

Act Now Prioritize within 24-48h. Why: CRITICAL severity + public POC available.
No patch listed yet 1.8% exploitation probability (EPSS)

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AnalysisAI

An exploitable arbitrary memory read vulnerability exists in the MQTT packet-parsing functionality of Cesanta Mongoose 6.13. Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.1), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.

RemediationAI

No vendor patch is available at time of analysis. Monitor vendor advisories for updates. Validate array indices and buffer lengths. Use memory-safe languages. Enable AddressSanitizer during testing.

Affects your stack

Find out whether the stacks and servers you run are on an affected version.

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 Out-of-bounds Read (CWE-125), which allows attackers to read data from memory outside the intended buffer boundaries. 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. Affected products include: Cesanta Mongoose.

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  • Exploit and PoC references, threat intelligence from 22 sources

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Severity by source

NVD PRIMARY 9.1 CRITICAL
AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:H

Primary rating from NVD · only source for this CVE.

CVSS VectorNVD

Attack Vector
Network
Attack Complexity
Low
Privileges Required
None
User Interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
None
Availability
High

DescriptionNVD

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.

Threat Intelligence Overview

EPSS Score
1.8%
Top 24% exploitable
Exploit
POC
Public exploit code exists
Data Quality
3 sources
Confidence: Low

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.

SignalValue
Severity CRITICAL
CISA KEV No
Public POC Yes
EPSS 1.8%
Patch available No
Active threat No
Deciding rule
CRITICAL severity + public POC available
What every action level means
Emergency Immediate action required. Criteria: CRITICAL + in CISA KEV (actively exploited) without patch, OR CRITICAL + EPSS > 30% without patch, OR CRITICAL + active threat signals without patch.
Act Now Prioritize within 24-48h. Criteria: in KEV with patch available, OR CRITICAL + public POC, OR HIGH + EPSS > 10%, OR CRITICAL + active threat, OR any CRITICAL severity.
This Week Schedule remediation this week. Criteria: HIGH severity (CVSS 7.0-8.9). Patch within normal change window.
This Month Plan within 30 days. Criteria: MEDIUM severity (CVSS 4.0-6.9), lower exploitation probability. Include in regular patch cycle.
Monitor Track and reassess. Criteria: LOW severity (CVSS 0.1-3.9), minimal exploitation risk. No immediate action needed.

SSVC AssessmentENISA

SSVC Decision· derived
Scheduled
Exploitation· derived
Poc
System Exposure· derived
Open
Automatable· derived
Yes
Human Impact· derived
Medium

Priority Score

68
Low Medium High Critical
KEV: 0
EPSS: +2
CVSS: +46
PoC: +20
Weaponized: 0
Threat intel: 0
Gov advisory: 0

Attack Technique

A buffer overflow occurs when a program writes more data to a memory buffer than it was allocated to hold, causing the excess data to spill into adjacent memory regions.

Information disclosure occurs when an application unintentionally exposes sensitive data that aids attackers in reconnaissance or directly compromises security.

Denial of Service attacks render applications or systems unavailable by overwhelming resources or triggering failure conditions.

Affected Products (CPE)NVD

cpe:2.3:a:cesanta:mongoose:6.13:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
CVE-2025-23061 CRITICAL POC
9.0 Jan 15

Mongoose ODM for Node.js before version 8.9.5 contains a search injection vulnerability when using $where filters with p

CVE-2017-2894 CRITICAL POC
9.8 Nov 07

An exploitable stack buffer overflow vulnerability exists in the MQTT packet parsing functionality of Cesanta Mongoose 6

CVE-2017-2891 CRITICAL POC
9.8 Nov 07

An exploitable use-after-free vulnerability exists in the HTTP server implementation of Cesanta Mongoose 6.8. Rated crit

CVE-2017-2922 CRITICAL POC
9.8 Nov 07

An exploitable memory corruption vulnerability exists in the Websocket protocol implementation of Cesanta Mongoose 6.8.

CVE-2017-2921 CRITICAL POC
9.8 Nov 07

An exploitable memory corruption vulnerability exists in the Websocket protocol implementation of Cesanta Mongoose 6.8.

CVE-2023-3696 CRITICAL POC
9.8 Jul 17

Prototype Pollution in GitHub repository automattic/mongoose prior to 7.3.4. Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.8), this vu

CVE-2022-2564 CRITICAL POC
9.8 Jul 28

Prototype Pollution in GitHub repository automattic/mongoose prior to 6.4.6. Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.8), this vu

CVE-2019-19307 CRITICAL POC
9.8 Nov 26

An integer overflow in parse_mqtt in mongoose.c in Cesanta Mongoose 6.16 allows an attacker to achieve remote DoS (infin

CVE-2024-53900 CRITICAL POC
9.1 Dec 02

Mongoose before 8.8.3 can improperly use $where in match, leading to search injection. Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.1

CVE-2021-26530 CRITICAL POC
9.1 Feb 08

The mg_tls_init function in Cesanta Mongoose HTTPS server 7.0 (compiled with OpenSSL support) is vulnerable to remote OO

CVE-2021-26529 CRITICAL POC
9.1 Feb 08

The mg_tls_init function in Cesanta Mongoose HTTPS server 7.0 and 6.7-6.18 (compiled with mbedTLS support) is vulnerable

CVE-2021-26528 CRITICAL POC
9.1 Feb 08

The mg_http_serve_file function in Cesanta Mongoose HTTP server 7.0 is vulnerable to remote OOB write attack via connect

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