CVE-2018-20452

HIGHNVD 8.88.8—
EchelonGraph scoreMEDIUM confidence

Score 8.8 from GitHub Security Advisory (severity: HIGH) published 2022-05-13. NVD baseline CVSS 8.8; sources differ by 0.0.

Triggered by: GitHub Security Advisory CVSS
Sources: epss, ghsa, nvd
8.8EG
EchelonGraph verdictPlan a fixSerious severity, but no confirmed exploitation yet.
  • High severity, but no confirmed exploitation yet
CISA-KEV: Not listedEPSS PROB: 1.5%CVSS: 8.8Exploit: None knownExposed services: Not assessed

A fix is available — apply it.

The read_MSAT_body function in ole.c in libxls 1.4.0 has an invalid free that allows attackers to cause a denial of service (application crash) or possibly have unspecified other impact via a crafted file, because of inconsistent memory management (new versus free) in ole2_read_header in ole.c.

CVSS v3
8.8
EG Score
8.8HIGHmedium confidence
EG Risk
45
EG Risk 45/100CISA SSVC

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 computed
Severity88% × 45%
Exploitation2% × 40%
Automatability30% × 15%
CISA SSVC: Track at low or medium mission impact; Track or Attend at high (mission-essential systems).
Action: A fix is available. Apply it within your standard update timelines at low or medium mission impact and sooner than that at high.
EPSS PROB
1.5%
EPSS %ILE
73rd
KEV
Not listed

CISA SSVCTrack at low or medium mission impact; Track or Attend at high (mission-essential systems).

A fix is available. Apply it within your standard update timelines at low or medium mission impact and sooner than that at high.

Exploitation none (no KEV listing, exploit record or EPSS ≥ 50%) · Automatable unknown (not published for this CVE) · Technical impact partial (CVSS below 9.0). Mission impact is CISA's Mission & Well-being decision point, and only you can judge it: high means the affected system is essential to your organisation's mission, or its compromise could cause irreversible harm to people. CISA's decision table

Published

December 25, 2018

Last Modified

November 21, 2024

Advisory Details (2)

Auto-updated Aug 13, 2026
🔬 Proof of concept available. Patch available.
generic

libxls: Multiple vulnerabilities (GLSA 202003-64) — Gentoo security

https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/202003-64
generic🟡 PoC Available

Alloc-Dealloc-Mismatch in read_MSAT_body function · Issue #35 · libxls/libxls · GitHub

https://github.com/evanmiller/libxls/issues/35

Affected Packages

(4 across 4 ecosystems)
Debian:11(1)
PackageVulnerable rangeFix by version rangeDependents
r-cran-readxl—
  • every version up to 1.2.0.9000-1: fixed in 1.2.0.9000-1
—
Debian:12(1)
PackageVulnerable rangeFix by version rangeDependents
r-cran-readxl—
  • every version up to 1.2.0.9000-1: fixed in 1.2.0.9000-1
—
Debian:13(1)
PackageVulnerable rangeFix by version rangeDependents
r-cran-readxl—
  • every version up to 1.2.0.9000-1: fixed in 1.2.0.9000-1
—
Debian:14(1)
PackageVulnerable rangeFix by version rangeDependents
r-cran-readxl—
  • every version up to 1.2.0.9000-1: fixed in 1.2.0.9000-1
—

Weakness Classification(1)

MITRE Common Weakness Enumeration — the root-cause categories this CVE belongs to.

Data Freshness Timeline

(refreshed 6× in last 7d / 24× 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 165 total refreshes for this CVE.

  1. 2026-10-05 17:39 UTCEPSS rescore
  2. 2026-10-04 23:18 UTCEPSS rescore
  3. 2026-10-03 14:21 UTCEPSS rescore
  4. 2026-10-01 19:44 UTCEPSS rescore
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  6. 2026-09-30 09:59 UTCEG score recompute
  7. 2026-09-28 15:12 UTCOSV refresh
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  22. 2026-09-08 19:34 UTCOSV refresh
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  1. 2026-09-04 13:56 UTCEPSS rescore
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  10. 2026-08-22 04:37 UTCOSV refresh
  11. 2026-08-21 23:45 UTCEPSS rescore
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  25. 2026-08-06 07:41 UTCOSV refresh
  26. 2026-08-05 19:13 UTCEPSS rescore
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  39. 2026-07-23 01:35 UTCEG score recompute
  40. 2026-07-22 22:15 UTCEG score recompute
  41. 2026-07-22 14:05 UTCEPSS rescore
  42. 2026-07-21 15:22 UTCEPSS rescore
  43. 2026-07-21 00:47 UTCOSV refresh
  44. 2026-07-20 17:04 UTCEPSS rescore
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  46. 2026-07-19 14:28 UTCEPSS rescore
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  70. 2026-07-03 20:26 UTCOSV refresh
  71. 2026-07-02 16:54 UTCEPSS rescore
  72. 2026-07-01 15:03 UTCEPSS rescore
  73. 2026-07-01 15:03 UTCEPSS rescore
  74. 2026-06-30 23:20 UTCEPSS rescore
  75. 2026-06-30 23:19 UTCEPSS rescore

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Frequently asked(5)

What is CVE-2018-20452?
CVE-2018-20452 is a high vulnerability published on December 25, 2018. The readMSATbody function in ole.c in libxls 1.4.0 has an invalid free that allows attackers to cause a denial of service (application crash) or possibly have unspecified other impact via a crafted file, because of inconsistent memory management (new versus free) in ole2readheader in ole.c.
When was CVE-2018-20452 disclosed?
CVE-2018-20452 was first published on December 25, 2018, with the most recent update on November 21, 2024. EchelonGraph re-ingests CVE updates from NVD on a 2-hour cycle, so this page reflects the latest published state.
Is CVE-2018-20452 actively exploited?
CVE-2018-20452 is not currently on CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog. FIRST EPSS estimates a 1.5% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days (73rd percentile of EPSS-scored CVEs).
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2018-20452?
CVE-2018-20452 has a CVSS v3 base score of 8.8 (NVD).
How do I remediate CVE-2018-20452?
A fix for CVE-2018-20452 is available: update to the fixed version the vendor names in its advisory.

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