Linux Distros Unpatched Vulnerability : CVE-2018-16855

high Nessus Plugin ID 247772

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.

- An issue has been found in PowerDNS Recursor before version 4.1.8 where a remote attacker sending a DNS query can trigger an out-of-bounds memory read while computing the hash of the query for a packet cache lookup, possibly leading to a crash. (CVE-2018-16855)

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://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2018-16855

Plugin Details

Severity: High

ID: 247772

File Name: unpatched_CVE_2018_16855.nasl

Version: 1.1

Type: local

Agent: unix

Family: Misc.

Published: 8/10/2025

Updated: 8/10/2025

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

Risk Information

VPR

Risk Factor: Low

Score: 3.6

CVSS v2

Risk Factor: Medium

Base Score: 5

Temporal Score: 3.7

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

CVSS Score Source: CVE-2018-16855

CVSS v3

Risk Factor: High

Base Score: 7.5

Temporal Score: 6.5

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

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

Vulnerability Information

CPE: cpe:/o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:18.04:-:lts, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:pdns-recursor

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

Exploit Ease: No known exploits are available

Vulnerability Publication Date: 11/26/2018

Reference Information

CVE: CVE-2018-16855