HOMEVULNERABILITIESCVE-2018-14681
HIGH

CVE-2018-14681

CWE-787Published: July 28, 2018· Updated: Jun 17, 2026

8.8
CVSS v3.1

Official Description

An issue was discovered in kwajd_read_headers in mspack/kwajd.c in libmspack before 0.7alpha. Bad KWAJ file header extensions could cause a one or two byte overwrite.

NVD Source

Technical Analysis

CVE-2018-14681 can be exploited remotely over the network without requiring physical or adjacent access, significantly expanding the attack surface for threat actors.

Exploitation does not require any privileges, though user interaction (Required) is needed, which slightly reduces the risk of mass automated attacks.

A successful exploit results in complete confidentiality breach (data exposure), full integrity compromise (data manipulation), availability disruption (denial of service), with a CVSS base score of 8.8.

From a weakness classification perspective (CWE-787): Out-of-bounds write vulnerabilities can lead to data corruption, crashes, or arbitrary code execution.

CVSS v3.1 Vector Breakdown

Exploitability
Attack VectorNetwork
Attack ComplexityLow
Privileges Req.None
User InteractionRequired
ScopeUnchanged
Impact
ConfidentialityHigh
IntegrityHigh
AvailabilityHigh
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Affected Vendors & Products

cabextract1 product(s)
libmspack
cabextract_project1 product(s)
cabextract
Canonical1 product(s)
ubuntu linux
Debian1 product(s)
debian linux
Red Hat4 product(s)
ansible towerenterprise linux desktopenterprise linux serverenterprise linux workstation
Source: NVD CPE · 16 total CPE entries

Exploit & PoC Resources

NO KNOWN EXPLOITNo public exploit confirmed at this time
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Official Patches & Advisories

All References (26)

http://www.securitytracker.com/id/1041410Third Party Advisory · VDB Entry
https://bugs.debian.org/904799Issue Tracking · Mailing List · Patch · Third Party Advisory
https://usn.ubuntu.com/3728-1/Third Party Advisory
https://usn.ubuntu.com/3728-2/Third Party Advisory
https://usn.ubuntu.com/3728-3/Third Party Advisory
https://usn.ubuntu.com/3789-2/Third Party Advisory
http://www.securitytracker.com/id/1041410Third Party Advisory · VDB Entry

Quick Facts

CVE IDCVE-2018-14681
CVSS Score8.8 / 10
SeverityHIGH
WeaknessCWE-787
CISA KEVNo
Affected5 vendor(s)
PublishedJul 28, 2018

Related CVEs (CWE-787)

Recommended Actions

  • Apply vendor patches immediately
  • Monitor CVE-2018-14681 in threat intel feeds
  • Review IDS/IPS signatures for exploitation attempts
Data sourced from NVD (NIST), CISA KEV, and EPSS (FIRST). Analysis generated by CTIWATCH.COM. CVE data is provided under the NVD usage policy.