Cloudanix VulnDB

CVE-2013-0211

None

CVSS

—

EPSS

3.9%

Published

Sep 30, 2013

CISA due date

—

Cloudanix analysis

Schedule a fix SSVC: Track

A bug in a common file-handling library can make programs crash when they try to work with certain archive files, interrupting services that depend on those programs.

Exploitation
Remote Unauthenticated
Attacker needs
None
Complexity
Low
Impact
Denial Of Service
Component
Library
Class
Buffer Overflow
Remediation
Upgrade
Effort
Medium
Patch risk
Low

What it actually does

Integer signedness error in archive_write_zip_data triggers improper signed-to-unsigned conversion on 64-bit systems, resulting in a buffer overflow that crashes the process during ZIP archive handling.

Why it matters to the business

Applications relying on libarchive for archive extraction or creation can be forced offline by specially crafted ZIP files, producing unplanned downtime for backup, packaging, and distribution workflows.

How an attack unfolds

An attacker prepares a ZIP archive that exercises the signedness flaw during write operations; when a vulnerable 64-bit libarchive instance processes the file, the resulting overflow causes an immediate crash and denial of service.

How to fix it

Upgrade libarchive to a release newer than 3.1.2 on all affected platforms; rebuild and redeploy any statically linked applications that embed the vulnerable library.

How to confirm the fix worked

Verify installed libarchive version is greater than 3.1.2; run regression tests that exercise ZIP write paths on 64-bit systems with boundary-sized archives.

Typical attack path

  1. Generate a ZIP archive containing crafted data that triggers the signedness error
  2. Deliver the archive to any service or tool that uses libarchive to read or write ZIP files
  3. Trigger archive processing (e.g., extraction, listing, or creation)
  4. Observe process termination due to buffer overflow

How to detect it

Search application and system logs for segmentation faults or abnormal exits immediately after ZIP archive processing; correlate with 64-bit process crashes on systems using libarchive.

What your security team should do

  • Prioritize upgrade of libarchive across all distributions and containers
  • Add version checks for libarchive to build and deployment pipelines
  • Monitor application logs for unexpected crashes during ZIP operations
  • Replace any remaining 3.1.2 or earlier packages identified in inventories

The record

Integer signedness error in the archive_write_zip_data function in archive_write_set_format_zip.c in libarchive 3.1.2 and earlier, when running on 64-bit machines, allows context-dependent attackers to cause a denial of service (crash) via unspecified vectors, which triggers an improper conversion between unsigned and signed types, leading to a buffer overflow.

Affected packages

Ecosystem Package Introduced Fixed
Debian:11 libarchive 0 3.0.4-3
Debian:12 libarchive 0 3.0.4-3
Debian:13 libarchive 0 3.0.4-3
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Desktop 12 libarchive 0 3.1.2-9.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server 12 libarchive 0 3.1.2-9.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 12 libarchive 0 3.1.2-9.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Software Development Kit 12 libarchive 0 3.1.2-9.1
Ubuntu:14.04:LTS libarchive 0 3.1.2-7ubuntu2
Ubuntu:14.04:LTS libarchive 0 3.1.2-7ubuntu2.1
openSUSE:Tumbleweed bsdtar 0 3.2.2-2.1

Related vulnerabilities