Linux Distros Unpatched Vulnerability : CVE-2018-20482

medium Nessus Plugin ID 222350

Synopsis

The Linux/Unix host has one or more packages installed with a vulnerability that the vendor indicates will not be patched.

Description

The Linux/Unix host has one or more packages installed that are impacted by a vulnerability without a vendor supplied patch available.

- GNU Tar through 1.30, when --sparse is used, mishandles file shrinkage during read access, which allows local users to cause a denial of service (infinite read loop in sparse_dump_region in sparse.c) by modifying a file that is supposed to be archived by a different user's process (e.g., a system backup running as root). (CVE-2018-20482)

Note that Nessus relies on the presence of the package as reported by the vendor.

Solution

There is no known solution at this time.

See Also

https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/cve-2018-20482

Plugin Details

Severity: Medium

ID: 222350

File Name: unpatched_CVE_2018_20482.nasl

Version: 1.2

Type: local

Agent: unix

Family: Misc.

Published: 3/4/2025

Updated: 8/27/2025

Supported Sensors: Frictionless Assessment AWS, Frictionless Assessment Azure, Frictionless Assessment Agent, Nessus Agent, Agentless Assessment, Nessus

Risk Information

VPR

Risk Factor: Medium

Score: 4.4

CVSS v2

Risk Factor: Low

Base Score: 1.9

Temporal Score: 1.5

Vector: CVSS2#AV:L/AC:M/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:P

CVSS Score Source: CVE-2018-20482

CVSS v3

Risk Factor: Medium

Base Score: 4.7

Temporal Score: 4.2

Vector: CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

Temporal Vector: CVSS:3.0/E:P/RL:O/RC:C

Vulnerability Information

CPE: cpe:/o:redhat:enterprise_linux:6, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:tar, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:tar, cpe:/o:redhat:enterprise_linux:5, cpe:/o:centos:centos:7, cpe:/o:redhat:enterprise_linux:7

Required KB Items: Host/local_checks_enabled, Host/cpu, global_settings/vendor_unpatched, Host/OS/identifier

Exploit Available: true

Exploit Ease: Exploits are available

Vulnerability Publication Date: 12/26/2018

Reference Information

CVE: CVE-2018-20482