Service crash via newline-free auth-file entry
Published Feb 3, 2023 · Updated Mar 26, 2025
Heap buffer overflow in memcached 1.6.9 allows local users to crash the service by supplying a crafted authentication file. The authfile_load function allocates exactly the file's byte length, but fgets appends a null terminator past that heap buffer when the final entry lacks a newline. Exploitation requires control of the configured file and a launch or reload that reads it; the demonstrated consequence is process termination.
Summary
What happened
Heap buffer overflow in memcached 1.6.9 allows local users to crash the service by supplying a crafted authentication file. The authfile_load function allocates exactly the file's byte length, but fgets appends a null terminator past that heap buffer when the final entry lacks a newline. Exploitation requires control of the configured file and a launch or reload that reads it; the demonstrated consequence is process termination.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2021-37519
- Published
- Feb 3, 2023
- Updated
- Mar 26, 2025
- Vendor
- Unknown vendor
- Product
- Unknown product
- Classifications
- CWE-787, T1499.004
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- unauthenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Feb 3, 2023CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Mar 26, 2025Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
Present is not the same as exploitable
Compare your product and version with the public record. A matching version still requires validation against your environment.
Is a vulnerable build present?
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Affected products and versions are unavailable in this record.
Attacks
What attackers are doing with it
Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.
Public exploit references
- Crafted authentication-file proof of conceptproof of concept · demonstrated
Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.
Technologies
Your stack
See the directory against your own environment.
Your stack
Check the software in your environment
Book a demo to see how Hinoki identifies affected software and validates exploitability in your environment.
Book a demo