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: 0.6%, top 54% 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)
- EG Risk
- 40(Track)EG Risk 40/100SSVC: Track
EG Risk is EchelonGraph's 0–100 priority score: it fuses intrinsic severity with real-world exploitation and automatability so you can rank equal-severity CVEs and fix the most dangerous first. Higher = act sooner. Distinct from the 0–10 EG Score (severity).
How it’s computedSeverity78% × 45%Exploitation1% × 40%Automatability30% × 15%Action: Routine — remediate on your standard cadence. - EPSS PROB
- 1%
- EPSS %ILE
- 47%
- 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.
Affected Packages
(34 across 20 ecosystems)
Alpine:v3.10(2)
| Package | Vulnerable range | Fixed in | Dependents |
|---|---|---|---|
| libpcap | — | 1.1.1-r0 | — |
| tcpdump | — | 4.9.3-r0 | — |
Alpine:v3.12(2)
| Package | Vulnerable range | Fixed in | Dependents |
|---|---|---|---|
| libpcap | — | 1.9.1-r0 | — |
| tcpdump | — | 4.9.3-r0 | — |
Alpine:v3.13(2)
| Package | Vulnerable range | Fixed in | Dependents |
|---|---|---|---|
| libpcap | — | 1.9.1-r0 | — |
| tcpdump | — | 4.9.3-r0 | — |
Alpine:v3.14(2)
| Package | Vulnerable range | Fixed in | Dependents |
|---|---|---|---|
| libpcap | — | 1.9.1-r0 | — |
| tcpdump | — | 4.9.3-r0 | — |
Alpine:v3.15(2)
| Package | Vulnerable range | Fixed in | Dependents |
|---|---|---|---|
| libpcap | — | 1.9.1-r0 | — |
| tcpdump | — | 4.9.3-r0 | — |
Alpine:v3.16(2)
| Package | Vulnerable range | Fixed in | Dependents |
|---|---|---|---|
| libpcap | — | 1.9.1-r0 | — |
| tcpdump | — | 4.9.3-r0 | — |
Alpine:v3.17(2)
| Package | Vulnerable range | Fixed in | Dependents |
|---|---|---|---|
| libpcap | — | 1.9.1-r0 | — |
| tcpdump | — | 4.9.3-r0 | — |
Alpine:v3.18(2)
| Package | Vulnerable range | Fixed in | Dependents |
|---|---|---|---|
| libpcap | — | 1.9.1-r0 | — |
| tcpdump | — | 4.9.3-r0 | — |
Alpine:v3.19(2)
| Package | Vulnerable range | Fixed in | Dependents |
|---|---|---|---|
| libpcap | — | 1.9.1-r0 | — |
| tcpdump | — | 4.9.3-r0 | — |
Alpine:v3.20(2)
| Package | Vulnerable range | Fixed in | Dependents |
|---|---|---|---|
| libpcap | — | 1.9.1-r0 | — |
| tcpdump | — | 4.9.3-r0 | — |
Alpine:v3.21(2)
| Package | Vulnerable range | Fixed in | Dependents |
|---|---|---|---|
| libpcap | — | 1.9.1-r0 | — |
| tcpdump | — | 4.9.3-r0 | — |
Alpine:v3.22(2)
| Package | Vulnerable range | Fixed in | Dependents |
|---|---|---|---|
| libpcap | — | 1.9.1-r0 | — |
| tcpdump | — | 4.9.3-r0 | — |
Alpine:v3.23(2)
| Package | Vulnerable range | Fixed in | Dependents |
|---|---|---|---|
| libpcap | — | 1.9.1-r0 | — |
| tcpdump | — | 4.9.3-r0 | — |
Alpine:v3.24(2)
| Package | Vulnerable range | Fixed in | Dependents |
|---|---|---|---|
| libpcap | — | 1.9.1-r0 | — |
| tcpdump | — | 4.9.3-r0 | — |
Alpine:v3.11(1)
| Package | Vulnerable range | Fixed in | Dependents |
|---|---|---|---|
| tcpdump | — | 4.9.3-r0 | — |
Alpine:v3.9(1)
| Package | Vulnerable range | Fixed in | Dependents |
|---|---|---|---|
| tcpdump | — | 4.9.3-r0 | — |
Debian:11(1)
| Package | Vulnerable range | Fixed in | Dependents |
|---|---|---|---|
| tcpdump | — | 4.99.0-1 | — |
Debian:12(1)
| Package | Vulnerable range | Fixed in | Dependents |
|---|---|---|---|
| tcpdump | — | 4.99.0-1 | — |
Debian:13(1)
| Package | Vulnerable range | Fixed in | Dependents |
|---|---|---|---|
| tcpdump | — | 4.99.0-1 | — |
Debian:14(1)
| Package | Vulnerable range | Fixed in | Dependents |
|---|---|---|---|
| tcpdump | — | 4.99.0-1 | — |
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 6× in last 7d / 27× 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.
Showing the most recent 100 of 128 total refreshes for this CVE.
- 2026-08-26 14:41 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-08-25 13:44 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-08-23 00:14 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-08-21 23:44 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-08-21 13:44 UTCOSV refresh
- 2026-08-20 22:51 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-08-19 17:00 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-08-18 13:43 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-08-17 13:42 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-08-16 14:51 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-08-16 02:10 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-08-15 01:26 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-08-13 21:56 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-08-12 13:46 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-08-11 13:36 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-08-09 13:42 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-08-08 16:32 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-08-07 16:22 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-08-06 13:42 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-08-06 13:42 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-08-06 00:24 UTCOSV refresh
- 2026-08-04 15:05 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-08-02 02:23 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-08-01 04:12 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-30 16:24 UTCEPSS rescore
Show 75 moreShow fewer
- 2026-07-30 01:27 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-28 15:32 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-26 14:51 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-26 14:51 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-24 14:14 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-23 14:15 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-23 14:15 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-23 01:34 UTCEG score recompute
- 2026-07-22 22:14 UTCEG score recompute
- 2026-07-22 14:04 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-21 15:21 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-20 17:04 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-20 17:04 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-20 04:46 UTCOSV refresh
- 2026-07-19 14:28 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-19 02:26 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-19 02:26 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-16 16:59 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-16 16:59 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-15 16:55 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-15 01:56 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-13 22:26 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-13 06:10 UTCEPSS rescore
- 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
- 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
Related CVEs(same vendor + same CWE)
Same vendor
10 shownubuntu
- CVE-2004-0989EG 10.0EPSS p97HIGH
- CVE-2004-0990EG 10.0EPSS p98HIGH
- CVE-2004-1010EG 10.0EPSS p95HIGH
- CVE-2004-0941EG 10.0EPSS p95HIGH
- CVE-2004-0981EG 10.0EPSS p93HIGH
- CVE-2004-0882EG 10.0EPSS p96HIGH
- CVE-2004-0888EG 10.0EPSS p95HIGH
- CVE-2004-1012EG 10.0EPSS p93HIGH
- CVE-2004-1013EG 10.0EPSS p93HIGH
- CVE-2004-1018EG 10.0EPSS p97HIGH
Same CWE
10 shownCWE-190 · CWE-120 · CWE-787
- CVE-2008-2663EG 10.0EPSS p91HIGH
- CVE-2007-1770EG 10.0EPSS p97HIGH
- CVE-2004-0978EG 10.0EPSS p98HIGH
- CVE-2004-1287EG 10.0EPSS p97HIGH
- CVE-2004-0574EG 10.0EPSS p99HIGH
- CVE-2002-1337EG 10.0EPSS p99HIGH
- CVE-2002-2227EG 10.0HIGH
- CVE-2001-0554EG 10.0EPSS p98HIGH
- CVE-2001-0191EG 10.0EPSS p92HIGH
- CVE-1999-1237EG 10.0EPSS p94HIGH
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
See which npm, PyPI, Go, and Maven packages are affected by 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.