CVE-2018-16301 · cross-distro fix matrix

CVE-2018-16301: The command-line argument parser in tcpdump before 4.99.0 has a buffer overflow in tcpdump.c:read_infile(). To trigger this vulnerability the attacker needs to create a 4GB file on the local filesystem and to specify the file name as the value of the -F command-line argument of tcpdump.

Affects 8 Linux releases across 13 (distro × package) combinations.

Fix per ecosystem

Each block below is a distro release where CVE-2018-16301 has a known fix. Run the listed command on that distro to remediate.

Debian bullseye

Source: Debian Security Tracker

tcpdump→ fixed in4.99.0-1urgency: unimportant

sudo apt-get install --only-upgrade -y tcpdump

Debian bookworm

Source: Debian Security Tracker

tcpdump→ fixed in4.99.0-1urgency: unimportant

sudo apt-get install --only-upgrade -y tcpdump

Debian trixie

Source: Debian Security Tracker

tcpdump→ fixed in4.99.0-1urgency: unimportant

sudo apt-get install --only-upgrade -y tcpdump

Alpine v3.20

Source: Alpine secdb

libpcap→ fixed in1.9.1-r0
```
apk update && apk add --upgrade libpcap
```
tcpdump→ fixed in4.9.3-r0
```
apk update && apk add --upgrade tcpdump
```

Alpine v3.21

Source: Alpine secdb

libpcap→ fixed in1.9.1-r0
```
apk update && apk add --upgrade libpcap
```
tcpdump→ fixed in4.9.3-r0
```
apk update && apk add --upgrade tcpdump
```

Alpine edge

Source: Alpine secdb

libpcap→ fixed in1.9.1-r0
```
apk update && apk add --upgrade libpcap
```
tcpdump→ fixed in4.9.3-r0
```
apk update && apk add --upgrade tcpdump
```

Alpine v3.18

Source: Alpine secdb

libpcap→ fixed in1.9.1-r0
```
apk update && apk add --upgrade libpcap
```
tcpdump→ fixed in4.9.3-r0
```
apk update && apk add --upgrade tcpdump
```

Alpine v3.19

Source: Alpine secdb

libpcap→ fixed in1.9.1-r0
```
apk update && apk add --upgrade libpcap
```
tcpdump→ fixed in4.9.3-r0
```
apk update && apk add --upgrade tcpdump
```

Are YOU affected by CVE-2018-16301?

5-second check on your actual server. Reads /etc/os-release, uname -r, and the distro's package manager; matches against this same cross-source index live.

curl https://mindsparkstack.com/scan.sh | bash

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Continuous monitoring beats manual checking

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