Memory Allocation Flaw in GNU Debugger Affects Linux Systems

CVE-2017-9778

Summary

The GNU Debugger (GDB) version 8.0 and prior versions contain a vulnerability that fails to properly detect a negative length field within a DWARF section. This oversight can allow for a malformed section in an ELF binary or core file to initiate a loop of memory allocation, which may quickly exhaust process limits. Such behavior hinders the ability to effectively analyze malware using GDB or could lead to service interruptions on the host system.

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