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.
CVE-2018-16301
This high-severity CVE scores 7.8 under NVD CVSS v3. EPSS exploit probability: 0.1%, top 80% of all CVEs by exploit prediction. GitHub Security Advisory data not yet ingested — confidence will rise once GHSA publishes (typical lag: hours to days for open-source ecosystem CVEs; never for infrastructure-only CVEs).
- High severity, but no confirmed exploitation yet
A fix is available — apply it.
- CVSS v3
- 7.8
- EG Score
- 7.8(medium)
- EPSS
- 45.8%
- KEV
- Not listed
Published
October 3, 2019
Last Modified
November 21, 2024
References (2)
- security@tcpdumphttps://github.com/the-tcpdump-group/tcpdump/commit/ad7c25bc0decf96dc7768c9e903734d38528b1bd
- af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108https://github.com/the-tcpdump-group/tcpdump/commit/ad7c25bc0decf96dc7768c9e903734d38528b1bd
Patch Availability(2)
| Vendor / Ecosystem | Fixed in / Patch | Released | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| ubuntu | tcpdump (4.9.3-0ubuntu0.16.04.1+esm1) @ xenial | 2026-05-27 | ubuntu |
| ubuntu | tcpdump (4.9.3-4ubuntu0.1) @ focal | 2026-05-27 | ubuntu |
Patches are aggregated from vendor advisories (Red Hat, Microsoft, Cisco, GitHub) and package ecosystems (OSV, GHSA). Multiple rows for the same upstream release have been deduplicated.
Weakness Classification(3)
MITRE Common Weakness Enumeration — the root-cause categories this CVE belongs to.
All Vendor Advisories
(3)
Every vendor that published an advisory referencing this CVE — pulled from our cve_vendor_advisories aggregation. Click any row for the vendor's original advisory page.
- Microsoft MSRCCVE-2018-163012022-02-15
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.
- UbuntuUSN-5331-1LOW
tcpdump vulnerabilities
- UbuntuUSN-5331-2LOW
tcpdump vulnerabilities
Data Freshness Timeline
(refreshed 9× in last 7d / 46× in last 30d)
Each row is a source pipeline that fetched or updated this CVE on that date, with what changed. For example, "NVD update" means NVD published or revised its analysis for this CVE; "MITRE cvelistV5" means we ingested or refreshed it from the CNA feed. Most recent first.
- 2026-07-12 05:43 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-11 08:24 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-09 19:06 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-08 15:11 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-07 13:42 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-07 13:42 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-06 16:24 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-06 16:24 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-06 02:20 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-05 02:27 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-04 06:28 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-02 20:35 UTCOSV refresh
- 2026-07-02 16:54 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-01 15:03 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-01 15:03 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-30 23:19 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-30 23:19 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-29 14:03 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-28 14:04 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-28 04:53 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-28 04:53 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-27 03:06 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-25 13:47 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-25 13:47 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-24 14:02 UTCEPSS rescore
Show 55 moreShow fewer
- 2026-06-24 14:02 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-23 21:30 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-22 14:23 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-21 14:54 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-21 14:54 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-21 01:57 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-21 01:57 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-19 19:23 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-18 17:50 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-18 17:50 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-17 17:50 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-17 17:50 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-16 17:50 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-16 17:50 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-15 17:45 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-14 23:14 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-14 23:14 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-14 17:13 UTCOSV refresh
- 2026-06-13 22:58 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-13 22:58 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-12 23:09 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-11 13:57 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-10 22:16 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-10 13:19 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-08 14:14 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-08 14:14 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-07 15:22 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-07 15:22 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-06 13:45 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-06 13:45 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-05 22:45 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-05 22:44 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-05 06:08 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-05 06:08 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-04 13:10 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-04 13:10 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-02 20:11 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-02 20:11 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-01 13:49 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-05-31 22:29 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-05-31 22:28 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-05-31 00:14 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-05-31 00:14 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-05-29 13:41 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-05-28 13:42 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-05-28 13:42 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-05-27 13:38 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-05-27 13:38 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-05-27 13:27 UTCEG score recompute
- 2026-05-27 13:27 UTCVendor advisory
- 2026-05-27 13:27 UTCGHSA enrichment
- 2026-05-26 13:42 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-05-26 13:42 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-05-26 07:17 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-05-26 07:17 UTCEPSS rescore
Related CVEs(same vendor + same CWE)
Same vendor
10 shownubuntu · msrc
Same CWE
10 shownCWE-787 · CWE-120 · CWE-190
- CVE-2007-0158EG 9.8CRITICAL
- CVE-2007-0899EG 9.8CRITICAL
- CVE-2006-3100EG 9.8CRITICAL
- CVE-2005-1141EG 9.8CRITICAL
- CVE-2005-0102EG 9.8CRITICAL
- CVE-2002-0391EG 9.8EPSS 99%CRITICAL
- CVE-2002-0639EG 9.8EPSS 97%CRITICAL
- CVE-2008-2992NVD 7.8EG 9.0 KEVEPSS 100%HIGH
- CVE-2007-5659NVD 7.8EG 9.0 KEVEPSS 100%HIGH
- CVE-2006-6576NVD 0.0EG 9.0EPSS 99%NONE
Frequently asked(5)
What is CVE-2018-16301?
When was CVE-2018-16301 disclosed?
Is CVE-2018-16301 actively exploited?
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2018-16301?
How do I remediate CVE-2018-16301?
Dependency Blast Radius
Explore the affected products and dependency analysis for CVE-2018-16301
Is Your Infrastructure Affected by CVE-2018-16301?
EchelonGraph automatically scans your cloud infrastructure and maps CVE exposure using blast radius analysis.