CVE-2024-6197

freeing stack buffer in utf8asn1str

HIGH
7.5
CVSS Score
Published: July 24, 2024 at 07:29 AM UTC
Updated: June 17, 2026 at 08:17 AM UTC
2 products affected across 1 vendorLibcurlCurl

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Severity
HIGH7.5
Exploit prediction
EPSS 4%
SSVC
No known exploit

Description

libcurl's ASN1 parser has this utf8asn1str() function used for parsing an ASN.1 UTF-8 string. Itcan detect an invalid field and return error. Unfortunately, when doing so it also invokes `free()` on a 4 byte localstack buffer. Most modern malloc implementations detect this error and immediately abort. Some however accept the input pointer and add that memory to its list of available chunks. This leads to the overwriting of nearby stack memory. The content of the overwrite is decided by the `free()` implementation; likely to be memory pointers and a set of flags. The most likely outcome of exploting this flaw is a crash, although it cannot be ruled out that more serious results can be had in special circumstances.

Affected

Our own answer: ranges merged, affected separated from platform-only, with confidence and review flags.

8.6.0 ≤ v < 8.9.0
Affected range stops below 8.9.0, so it looks safe — our inference, not a vendor statement
8.6.0 ≤ v ≤ 8.8.08.6.08.7.08.7.18.8.0

Remediation

No guide yet

No remediation guidance has been written for this CVE yet. What the record does show:

References (6)

Mailing ListThird Party Advisory
Source: 2499f714-1537-4658-8207-48ae4bb9eae9
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2024/07/24/1
Mailing ListThird Party Advisory
Source: 2499f714-1537-4658-8207-48ae4bb9eae9
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2024/07/24/5
Vendor Advisory
Source: 2499f714-1537-4658-8207-48ae4bb9eae9
https://curl.se/docs/CVE-2024-6197.html
Vendor Advisory
Source: 2499f714-1537-4658-8207-48ae4bb9eae9
https://curl.se/docs/CVE-2024-6197.json
ExploitIssue TrackingTechnical Description
Source: 2499f714-1537-4658-8207-48ae4bb9eae9
https://hackerone.com/reports/2559516
Source: af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108
https://security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20241129-0008/

SSVC — Action Prioritization

SSVCNo known exploitAutomatablePartial impact

SSVC signals action urgency (what to patch first), separate from CVSS which measures severity.

CVSS

7.5HIGHCISA-ADP
Attack Vector
NETWORK
Complexity
LOW
Privileges
NONE
User Interaction
NONE
Scope
UNCHANGED
Confidentiality
NONE
Integrity
NONE
Availability
HIGH
Vector?

Quick Info

StatusMODIFIED
CWE
NVD-CWE-Other

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