CVE-2018-11646 Explained : Impact and Mitigation

WebkitGTK+ through version 2.21.3 is affected by a vulnerability in the WebKit project that can lead to application crashes.

Understanding CVE-2018-11646

This CVE entry describes a specific issue in the WebKit project that impacts WebkitGTK+ versions up to 2.21.3.

What is CVE-2018-11646?

The functions webkitFaviconDatabaseSetIconForPageURL and webkitFaviconDatabaseSetIconURLForPageURL in WebKitFaviconDatabase.cpp have a flaw that causes a crash when handling an empty pageURL.

The Impact of CVE-2018-11646

The vulnerability can be exploited to crash applications using WebkitGTK+ up to version 2.21.3.

Technical Details of CVE-2018-11646

This section provides more in-depth technical details about the vulnerability.

Vulnerability Description

The issue lies in the mishandling of an unset pageURL by the mentioned functions, resulting in application crashes.

Affected Systems and Versions

Product: Not applicable
Vendor: Not applicable
Versions affected: WebkitGTK+ up to 2.21.3

Exploitation Mechanism

The vulnerability can be exploited by providing an empty pageURL, triggering a crash in the application.

Mitigation and Prevention

Steps to address and prevent exploitation of CVE-2018-11646.

Immediate Steps to Take

Update WebkitGTK+ to a version beyond 2.21.3 if available.
Monitor for security advisories from relevant sources.

Long-Term Security Practices

Regularly update software components to the latest versions.
Implement secure coding practices to prevent similar vulnerabilities.

Patching and Updates

Apply patches provided by the WebKit project to fix the issue.