CVE-2019-14877: newlib_project newlib NULL Pointer Dereference
Vulnerability summary
CVE-2019-14877 is a medium (CVSS 6.5) NULL Pointer Dereference vulnerability in newlib_project newlib. EPSS estimates a 1.29% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 69.8% of scored vulnerabilities. 1 public exploit is recorded.
Timeline
- 19-03-2020PublishedVulnerability first disclosed.
- 05-08-2024Last modifiedVulnerability information updated.
Description
In the __mdiff function of the newlib libc library, all versions prior to 3.3.0 (see newlib/libc/stdlib/mprec.c), Balloc is used to allocate big integers, however no check is performed to verify if the allocation succeeded or not. The access to _wds and _sign will trigger a null pointer dereference bug in case of a memory allocation failure.
CVSS metrics
7 scores · 4 sources · 3 versions- OSV · UbuntuEcosystem advisory · calculated6.5MediumCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
- OSV · DebianEcosystem advisory · calculated6.5MediumCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
- NVDNIST6.5MediumCVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
- OSV · UbuntuEcosystem advisory · calculated6.5MediumCVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
EPSS trend
Probability
1.29%
Chance of exploitation in the next 30 days
Percentile
70%
Versus all other CVEs
30-day change
-0.04 pp
From 1.33% on 18-09-2026
Known exploited
Compare KEV catalogsNot in any of the 3 tracked catalogs.
Public exploits
1 foundExploit Reference (census-labs.com)
Maturity: unknown
Weaknesses
CWE · root causeAffected systems
Debian2 products
- newlib< 3.3.0-1
- picolibc< 1.4.3-1
Newlib_project1 product
- newlib< 3.3.0
Red hat1 product
- newliball newlib versions prior to 3.3.0
Ubuntu1 product
- newlibAll versions (No fix recorded)
4 vendors · 5 products
References
4 links- census-labs.com/news/2020/01/31/multiple-null-pointer-dereference-vulnerabilities-in-newlib/X Refsource CONFIRMExploitThird Party AdvisoryREPORT