Memcached
CVE-2019-11596
HIGH
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. Public proof-of-concept exploit code is available. |
| 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. |
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Alert meAnalysisAI
In memcached before 1.5.14, a NULL pointer dereference was found in the "lru mode" and "lru temp_ttl" commands. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available.
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. In memcached before 1.5.14, a NULL pointer dereference was found in the "lru mode" and "lru temp_ttl" commands. This causes a denial of service when parsing crafted lru command messages in process_lru_command in memcached.c. Affected products include: Memcached, Canonical Ubuntu Linux. Version information: before 1.5.14.
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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:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Primary rating from NVD · only source for this CVE.
CVSS VectorNVD
DescriptionNVD
In memcached before 1.5.14, a NULL pointer dereference was found in the "lru mode" and "lru temp_ttl" commands. This causes a denial of service when parsing crafted lru command messages in process_lru_command in memcached.c.
Threat Intelligence Overview
NVD
CVE.org
EPSS
GitHub
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
An integer overflow in process_bin_sasl_auth function in Memcached, which is responsible for authentication commands of
An integer overflow in the process_bin_append_prepend function in Memcached, which is responsible for processing multipl
Multiple integer overflows in process_bin_update function in Memcached, which is responsible for processing multiple com
PHP-Memcached v2.2.0 and below contains an improper NULL termination which allows attackers to execute CLRF injection. R
The try_read_command function in memcached.c in memcached before 1.4.39 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of ser
Memcached 1.6.x before 1.6.2 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (daemon crash) via a crafted binary pr
Memcached version 1.5.5 contains an Insufficient Control of Network Message Volume (Network Amplification, CWE-406) vuln
In Memcached before 1.6.22, an off-by-one error exists when processing proxy requests in proxy mode, if \n is used inste
Out-of-bounds read in memcached versions 1.6.41-1.6.43 allows a remote, unauthenticated attacker to crash the ASCII auth
Timing side-channel in memcached versions prior to 1.6.42 allows remote attackers to recover SASL authentication credent
Observable timing discrepancy in memcached prior to version 1.6.42 enables remote attackers to enumerate valid SASL auth
In Memcached before 1.6.22, a buffer overflow exists when processing multiget requests in proxy mode, if there are many
Exploit-DB