CVE-2018-6196
w3m through 0.5.3 is prone to an infinite recursion flaw in HTMLlineproc0 because the...
w3m through 0.5.3 is prone to an infinite recursion flaw in HTMLlineproc0 because the feed_table_block_tag function in table.c does not prevent a negative indent value.
Attack profile
How easy it is to exploit
- Attack vector
- Network
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges needed
- None
- User interaction
- None
What an attacker can affect
- Confidentiality
- None
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- High
Exploit likelihood
What each source reports
NVD Score used
7.5
w3m through 0.5.3 is prone to an infinite recursion flaw in HTMLlineproc0 because the feed_table_block_tag function in table.c does not prevent a negative indent value.
- Record
CVE-2018-6196- CVSS 3.0
- 7.5 High
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H - CVSS 2.0
- 5.0 Medium
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:P - Weakness
- CWE-835
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
CVE List No score
w3m through 0.5.3 is prone to an infinite recursion flaw in HTMLlineproc0 because the feed_table_block_tag function in table.c does not prevent a negative indent value.
- Record
CVE-2018-6196- Updated
- 2026-11-02
EUVDEUVD-2018-17957 No score
w3m through 0.5.3 is prone to an infinite recursion flaw in HTMLlineproc0 because the feed_table_block_tag function in table.c does not prevent a negative indent value.
- Record
EUVD-2018-17957- Updated
- 2026-11-03
GitHub AdvisoriesGHSA-rhw8-jfw3-7w97
7.5
w3m through 0.5.3 is prone to an infinite recursion flaw in HTMLlineproc0 because the...
w3m through 0.5.3 is prone to an infinite recursion flaw in HTMLlineproc0 because the feed_table_block_tag function in table.c does not prevent a negative indent value.
- Record
GHSA-rhw8-jfw3-7w97- CVSS 3.0
- 7.5 High
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H - Weakness
- CWE-835
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVALPINE-CVE-2018-6196
7.5
w3m through 0.5.3 is prone to an infinite recursion flaw in HTMLlineproc0 because the feed_table_block_tag function in table.c does not prevent a negative indent value.
- Record
ALPINE-CVE-2018-6196- CVSS 3.0
- 7.5 High
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H - Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSV
7.5
w3m through 0.5.3 is prone to an infinite recursion flaw in HTMLlineproc0 because the feed_table_block_tag function in table.c does not prevent a negative indent value.
- Record
CVE-2018-6196- CVSS 3.0
- 7.5 High
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H - Updated
- 2026-11-02
Show 6 moreShow less
OSVDEBIAN-CVE-2018-6196
7.5
w3m through 0.5.3 is prone to an infinite recursion flaw in HTMLlineproc0 because the feed_table_block_tag function in table.c does not prevent a negative indent value.
- Record
DEBIAN-CVE-2018-6196- CVSS 3.0
- 7.5 High
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H - Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVUBUNTU-CVE-2018-6196
7.5
w3m through 0.5.3 is prone to an infinite recursion flaw in HTMLlineproc0 because the feed_table_block_tag function in table.c does not prevent a negative indent value.
- Record
UBUNTU-CVE-2018-6196- CVSS 3.0
- 7.5 High
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H - Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVMGASA-2018-0312 No score
Updated w3m packages fix security vulnerability
It was discovered that w3m incorrectly handled certain inputs. An attacker could possibly use this to cause a denial of service (CVE-2018-6196, CVE-2018-6197).
It was discovered that w3m incorrectly handled temporary files. An attacker could possibly use this to overwrite arbitrary files (CVE-2018-6198).
- Record
MGASA-2018-0312- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVopenSUSE-SU-2024:11504-1 No score
w3m-0.5.3+git20180125-1.14 on GA media
These are all security issues fixed in the w3m-0.5.3+git20180125-1.14 package on the GA media of openSUSE Tumbleweed.
- Record
openSUSE-SU-2024:11504-1- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVSUSE-SU-2019:0776-1 No score
Security update for w3m
This update for w3m fixes several issues.
These security issues were fixed:
- CVE-2018-6196: Prevent infinite recursion in HTMLlineproc0 caused by the feed_table_block_tag function which did not prevent a negative indent value (bsc#1077559)
- CVE-2018-6197: Prevent NULL pointer dereference in formUpdateBuffer (bsc#1077568)
- CVE-2018-6198: w3m did not properly handle temporary files when the ~/.w3m directory is unwritable, which allowed a local attacker to craft a symlink attack to overwrite arbitrary files (bsc#1077572)
- Record
SUSE-SU-2019:0776-1- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVUSN-3555-1 No score
w3m vulnerabilities
It was discovered that w3m incorrectly handled certain inputs. An attacker could possibly use this to cause a denial of service. (CVE-2018-6196, CVE-2018-6197)
It was discovered that w3m incorrectly handled temporary files. An attacker could possibly use this to overwrite arbitrary files. (CVE-2018-6198)
- Record
USN-3555-1- Updated
- 2026-11-02
Affected products
Affected packages
| Package | Affected | Fixed |
|---|---|---|
w3mAlpine:v3.23 |
before 0.5.3_git20241203-r0 | 0.5.3_git20241203-r0 |
w3mDebian:12 |
before 0.5.3-36 | 0.5.3-36 |
w3mDebian:13 |
before 0.5.3-36 | 0.5.3-36 |
w3mDebian:14 |
before 0.5.3-36 | 0.5.3-36 |
w3mDebian:8 From an advisory covering 2 CVEs |
before 0.5.3-19+deb8u3, plus listed versions 0.5.3-190.5.3-19+deb8u10.5.3-19+deb8u2 |
0.5.3-19+deb8u3 |
w3mMageia:5 From an advisory covering 3 CVEs |
before 0.5.3-13.git20180520.0.mga5 | 0.5.3-13.git20180520.0.mga5 |
w3mMageia:6 From an advisory covering 3 CVEs |
before 0.5.3-13.git20180520.0.mga6 | 0.5.3-13.git20180520.0.mga6 |
w3mSUSE:Linux Enterprise Desktop 12 SP3 From an advisory covering 3 CVEs |
before 0.5.3.git20161120-161.3.4 | 0.5.3.git20161120-161.3.4 |
w3mSUSE:Linux Enterprise Desktop 12 SP4 From an advisory covering 3 CVEs |
before 0.5.3.git20161120-161.3.4 | 0.5.3.git20161120-161.3.4 |
w3mSUSE:Linux Enterprise Server 12 SP3 From an advisory covering 3 CVEs |
before 0.5.3.git20161120-161.3.4 | 0.5.3.git20161120-161.3.4 |
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| Package | Affected | Fixed |
|---|---|---|
w3mSUSE:Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 12 SP3 From an advisory covering 3 CVEs |
before 0.5.3.git20161120-161.3.4 | 0.5.3.git20161120-161.3.4 |
w3mSUSE:Linux Enterprise Server 12 SP4 From an advisory covering 3 CVEs |
before 0.5.3.git20161120-161.3.4 | 0.5.3.git20161120-161.3.4 |
w3mSUSE:Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 12 SP4 From an advisory covering 3 CVEs |
before 0.5.3.git20161120-161.3.4 | 0.5.3.git20161120-161.3.4 |
w3mUbuntu:14.04:LTS |
before 0.5.3-15ubuntu0.2, plus listed versions 0.5.3-110.5.3-120.5.3-130.5.3-150.5.3-15ubuntu0.1 |
0.5.3-15ubuntu0.2 |
w3mUbuntu:16.04:LTS |
before 0.5.3-26ubuntu0.2, plus listed versions 0.5.3-240.5.3-250.5.3-260.5.3-26build10.5.3-26ubuntu0.1 |
0.5.3-26ubuntu0.2 |
w3mUbuntu:14.04:LTS From an advisory covering 3 CVEs |
before 0.5.3-15ubuntu0.2, plus listed versions 0.5.3-110.5.3-120.5.3-130.5.3-150.5.3-15ubuntu0.1 |
0.5.3-15ubuntu0.2 |
w3mUbuntu:16.04:LTS From an advisory covering 3 CVEs |
before 0.5.3-26ubuntu0.2, plus listed versions 0.5.3-240.5.3-250.5.3-260.5.3-26build10.5.3-26ubuntu0.1 |
0.5.3-26ubuntu0.2 |
w3mopenSUSE:Tumbleweed From an advisory covering 4 CVEs |
before 0.5.3+git20180125-1.14 | 0.5.3+git20180125-1.14 |
History
| Recorded | Changed | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| affected, facts | ||
| aliases | EUVD | |
| first indexed | CVE List, GitHub Advisories, NVD, OSV |
Dates are when Every CVE recorded each change. Upstream dates may differ.
In short
CVE-2018-6196 is a high vulnerability (CVSS 7.5) in Tats W3m, published January 24, 2018. No source lists public exploit code. EPSS puts the chance of exploitation in the next 30 days at 2.94%, the 87th percentile. Fixed in w3m 0.5.3_git20241203-r0.
References
github.com/tats/w3m/commit/8354763b90490d4105695df52674d0fcef823e92
usn.ubuntu.com/3555-2
github.com/tats/w3m/issues/88
usn.ubuntu.com/3555-1
lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2019-04/msg00028.html
lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2020/04/msg00025.html
Show 20 moreShow less
nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2018-6196
github.com/advisories/GHSA-rhw8-jfw3-7w97
security.alpinelinux.org/vuln/CVE-2018-6196
security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2018-6196
advisories.mageia.org/MGASA-2018-0312.html
bugs.mageia.org/show_bug.cgi?id=22504
suse.com/support/update/announcement/2019/suse-su-20190776-1
bugzilla.suse.com/1077559
bugzilla.suse.com/1077568
bugzilla.suse.com/1077572
suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2018-6196
suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2018-6197
suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2018-6198
ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2018-6196
ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-3555-1
ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-3555-2
cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2018-6196
ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2018-6197
ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2018-6198
suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2006-6772