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Asterisk CVE-2018-7285

HIGH
NULL Pointer Dereference (CWE-476)
2018-02-22 cve@mitre.org
7.5
CVSS 3.0 · NVD
View

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 7.5 (HIGH). Attack characteristics: network attack vector, low complexity, no 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. No authentication is required to exploit this vulnerability.

This Week Schedule remediation this week. Why: HIGH severity (CVSS 7.0-8.9).
Patch available 5.1% exploitation probability (EPSS)

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AnalysisAI

A NULL pointer access issue was discovered in Asterisk 15.x through 15.2.1. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, 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

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 NULL Pointer Dereference (CWE-476), which allows attackers to crash the application by dereferencing a null pointer. A NULL pointer access issue was discovered in Asterisk 15.x through 15.2.1. The RTP support in Asterisk maintains its own registry of dynamic codecs and desired payload numbers. While an SDP negotiation may result in a codec using a different payload number, these desired ones are still stored internally. When an RTP packet was received, this registry would be consulted if the payload number was not found in the negotiated SDP. This registry was incorrectly consulted for all packets, even those which are dynamic. If the payload number resulted in a codec of a different type than the RTP stream (for example, the payload number resulted in a video codec but the stream carried audio), a crash could occur if no stream of that type had been negotiated. This was due to the code incorrectly assuming that a stream of that type would always exist. Affected products include: Digium Asterisk. Version information: through 15.2.1..

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  • Exploit and PoC references, threat intelligence from 22 sources

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Severity by source

NVD PRIMARY 7.5 HIGH
AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/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
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

DescriptionNVD

A NULL pointer access issue was discovered in Asterisk 15.x through 15.2.1. The RTP support in Asterisk maintains its own registry of dynamic codecs and desired payload numbers. While an SDP negotiation may result in a codec using a different payload number, these desired ones are still stored internally. When an RTP packet was received, this registry would be consulted if the payload number was not found in the negotiated SDP. This registry was incorrectly consulted for all packets, even those which are dynamic. If the payload number resulted in a codec of a different type than the RTP stream (for example, the payload number resulted in a video codec but the stream carried audio), a crash could occur if no stream of that type had been negotiated. This was due to the code incorrectly assuming that a stream of that type would always exist.

Threat Intelligence Overview

EPSS Score
5.1%
Top 9% exploitable
Data Quality
2 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 HIGH
CISA KEV No
Public POC No
EPSS 5.1%
Patch available Yes
Active threat No
Deciding rule
HIGH severity (CVSS 7.0-8.9)
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
None
System Exposure· derived
Open
Automatable· derived
Yes
Human Impact· derived
Medium

Priority Score

43
Low Medium High Critical
KEV: 0
EPSS: +5
CVSS: +38
PoC: 0
Weaponized: 0
Threat intel: 0
Gov advisory: 0

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

cpe:2.3:a:digium:asterisk:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
CVE-2017-17090 HIGH POC
7.5 Dec 02

An issue was discovered in chan_skinny.c in Asterisk Open Source 13.18.2 and older, 14.7.2 and older, and 15.1.2 and old

CVE-2012-1184 HIGH POC
7.5 Sep 18

Stack-based buffer overflow in the ast_parse_digest function in main/utils.c in Asterisk 1.8.x before 1.8.10.1 and 10.x

CVE-2017-14100 CRITICAL
9.8 Sep 02

In Asterisk 11.x before 11.25.2, 13.x before 13.17.1, and 14.x before 14.6.1 and Certified Asterisk 11.x before 11.6-cer

CVE-2017-14098 HIGH
7.5 Sep 02

In the pjsip channel driver (res_pjsip) in Asterisk 13.x before 13.17.1 and 14.x before 14.6.1, a carefully crafted tel

CVE-2014-9374 MEDIUM
5.0 Dec 12

Double free vulnerability in the WebSocket Server (res_http_websocket module) in Asterisk Open Source 11.x before 11.14.

CVE-2017-17850 HIGH
7.5 Dec 27

An issue was discovered in Asterisk 13.18.4 and older, 14.7.4 and older, 15.1.4 and older, and 13.18-cert1 and older. Ra

CVE-2017-7617 HIGH
8.8 Apr 10

Remote code execution can occur in Asterisk Open Source 13.x before 13.14.1 and 14.x before 14.3.1 and Certified Asteris

CVE-2015-3008 MEDIUM
4.3 Apr 10

Asterisk Open Source 1.8 before 1.8.32.3, 11.x before 11.17.1, 12.x before 12.8.2, and 13.x before 13.3.2 and Certified

CVE-2021-32558 HIGH POC
7.5 Jul 30

An issue was discovered in Sangoma Asterisk 13.x before 13.38.3, 16.x before 16.19.1, 17.x before 17.9.4, and 18.x befor

CVE-2018-19278 HIGH POC
7.5 Nov 14

Buffer overflow in DNS SRV and NAPTR lookups in Digium Asterisk 15.x before 15.6.2 and 16.x before 16.0.1 allows remote

CVE-2018-7284 HIGH POC
7.5 Feb 22

A Buffer Overflow issue was discovered in Asterisk through 13.19.1, 14.x through 14.7.5, and 15.x through 15.2.1, and Ce

CVE-2025-1131 HIGH POC
7.0 Sep 23

A local privilege escalation vulnerability exists in the safe_asterisk script included with the Asterisk toolkit package

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