CVE-2018-12233: Canonical Ubuntu Linux

High severity, CVSS 7.8. EPSS: 2.4% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days.

In the ea_get function in fs/jfs/xattr.c in the Linux kernel through 4.17.1, a memory corruption bug in JFS can be triggered by calling setxattr twice with two different extended attribute names on the same file. This vulnerability can be triggered by an unprivileged user with the ability to create files and execute programs. A kmalloc call is incorrect, leading to slab-out-of-bounds in jfs_xattr.

Affected products

• Canonical Ubuntu Linux: version 14.04 only; version 16.04 only; version 18.04 only
• Linux Linux Kernel: from 2.6.12, before 3.16.58 (fixed in 3.16.58); from 3.17, before 3.18.118 (fixed in 3.18.118); from 3.19, before 4.4.147 (fixed in 4.4.147); from 4.5, before 4.9.119 (fixed in 4.9.119); from 4.10, before 4.14.62 (fixed in 4.14.62); from 4.15, before 4.17.14 (fixed in 4.17.14)

Published 2018-06-12. Last modified 2026-06-17.