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Vulnerability record · CVE-2013-4788 · published 4 October 2013

CVE-2013-4788: Gnu glibc improper input validation vulnerability

Gnu · Glibc

The PTR_MANGLE implementation in the GNU C Library (aka glibc or libc6) 2.4, 2.17, and earlier, and Embedded GLIBC (EGLIBC) does not initialize the random value for the pointer guard, which makes it easier for context-dependent attackers to control execution flow by leveraging a buffer-overflow vulnerability in an application and using the known zero value pointer guard to calculate a pointer address.

5.1 CVSS 2.0 Medium EPSS 11% · top 4.1% CWE-20 · Improper input validation
5.1CVSS 2.0 base score
11%EPSS exploitation probability, 30 days
NoNot in CISA KEV
2Affected product versions listed by NVD
14References, 4 tagged exploit
16 Jun 2026Last modified by NVD

Description

The PTR_MANGLE implementation in the GNU C Library (aka glibc or libc6) 2.4, 2.17, and earlier, and Embedded GLIBC (EGLIBC) does not initialize the random value for the pointer guard, which makes it easier for context-dependent attackers to control execution flow by leveraging a buffer-overflow vulnerability in an application and using the known zero value pointer guard to calculate a pointer address.

AV:N/AC:H/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P

Affected products

2 vulnerable configurations from NVD's CPE data, grouped by vendor and product.

References

LinkTags
http://hmarco.org/bugs/CVE-2013-4788.html ExploitPatch
http://seclists.org/fulldisclosure/2015/Sep/23
http://www.mandriva.com/security/advisories?name=MDVSA-2013:283
http://www.mandriva.com/security/advisories?name=MDVSA-2013:284
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2013/07/15/9 ExploitPatch
http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/61183
https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/201503-04
http://hmarco.org/bugs/CVE-2013-4788.html ExploitPatch
http://seclists.org/fulldisclosure/2015/Sep/23
http://www.mandriva.com/security/advisories?name=MDVSA-2013:283
http://www.mandriva.com/security/advisories?name=MDVSA-2013:284
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2013/07/15/9 ExploitPatch
http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/61183
https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/201503-04

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Related vulnerabilities

Same products first, then exploited flaws of the same weakness class.

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Source: NIST National Vulnerability Database (record CVE-2013-4788), CISA KEV, FIRST EPSS (scores of 2026-09-27). This page is refreshed as NVD updates the record.