Description
In the __mdiff function of the newlib libc library, all versions prior to 3.3.0 (see newlib/libc/stdlib/mprec.c), Balloc is used to allocate big integers, however no check is performed to verify if the allocation succeeded or not. The access to _wds and _sign will trigger a null pointer dereference bug in case of a memory allocation failure.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected | Fixed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Red Hat | newlib | all newlib versions prior to 3.3.0 | — |
Fixed in Linux distributions
Distributions backport fixes, so the version that fixes this vulnerability differs per release — upgrade to at least the version shown. From the distributions' security trackers and advisories.
Debian
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Debian 14 | newlib | 3.3.0-1 | — |
| Debian 14 | picolibc | 1.4.3-1 | — |
| Debian 13 | newlib | 3.3.0-1 | — |
| Debian 13 | picolibc | 1.4.3-1 | — |
| Debian 12 | newlib | 3.3.0-1 | — |
| Debian 12 | picolibc | 1.4.3-1 | — |
Ubuntu
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ubuntu 18.04 LTS | newlib | No fix yet | — |
| Ubuntu 16.04 LTS | newlib | No fix yet | — |