CVE-2018-11646

HIGH

WebKitGTK+ <2.21.3 - Use After Free

Title source: llm
STIX 2.1

Exploitation Summary

EIP tracks 3 public exploits for CVE-2018-11646. PoCs published by Dhiraj Mishra, Dhiraj Mishra, Hardik Mehta, Zubin Devnani, Manuel Caballero, including Metasploit module auxiliary/dos/http/webkitplus.

AI-analyzed exploit summary This exploit targets a denial-of-service vulnerability in WebKitGTK+ by manipulating the WebKitFaviconDatabase when pageURL is unset, causing the application to crash. It uses a JavaScript payload served via an HTTP server to trigger the vulnerability.

Description

webkitFaviconDatabaseSetIconForPageURL and webkitFaviconDatabaseSetIconURLForPageURL in UIProcess/API/glib/WebKitFaviconDatabase.cpp in WebKit, as used in WebKitGTK+ through 2.21.3, mishandle an unset pageURL, leading to an application crash.

Exploits (3)

exploitdb WORKING POC
by Dhiraj Mishra · rubydoslinux
https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/44876

This exploit targets a denial-of-service vulnerability in WebKitGTK+ by manipulating the WebKitFaviconDatabase when pageURL is unset, causing the application to crash. It uses a JavaScript payload served via an HTTP server to trigger the vulnerability.

Classification
Working Poc 90%
Attack Type
Dos
Complexity
Trivial
Reliability
Reliable
Target: WebKitGTK+ < 2.21.3
No auth needed
Prerequisites: Target must be using a vulnerable version of WebKitGTK+ · Target must visit the malicious HTTP server
devstral-2 · analyzed Feb 16, 2026 Full analysis →
exploitdb WORKING POC
by Dhiraj Mishra · textlocallinux
https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/44842

This PoC exploits a crash vulnerability in WebKitGTK+ by manipulating the favicon database functions with an unset pageURL, leading to a denial-of-service condition. The provided JavaScript code demonstrates the issue by opening a window and manipulating its document properties.

Classification
Working Poc 90%
Attack Type
Dos
Complexity
Trivial
Reliability
Reliable
Target: WebKitGTK+ < 2.21.3
No auth needed
Prerequisites: A vulnerable version of WebKitGTK+ · A web browser or application using WebKitGTK+
devstral-2 · analyzed Feb 16, 2026 Full analysis →
metasploit WORKING POC
by Dhiraj Mishra, Hardik Mehta, Zubin Devnani, Manuel Caballero · rubypoc
https://github.com/rapid7/metasploit-framework/blob/master/modules/auxiliary/dos/http/webkitplus.rb

This exploit targets a vulnerability in WebKitFaviconDatabase where an unset pageURL leads to a denial of service (DoS) by crashing the application. It serves a malicious JavaScript payload via an HTTP server to trigger the crash.

Classification
Working Poc 95%
Attack Type
Dos
Complexity
Trivial
Reliability
Reliable
Target: WebKitGTK+ (WebKitFaviconDatabase)
No auth needed
Prerequisites: Victim must visit the malicious web page served by the attacker
devstral-2 · analyzed Feb 16, 2026 Full analysis →

References (5)

Core 5
Core References
Exploit, Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry exploit x_refsource_exploit-db
https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/44876/
Third Party Advisory vendor-advisory x_refsource_gentoo
https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/201808-04
Exploit, Issue Tracking, Third Party Advisory x_refsource_misc
https://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=795740
Exploit, Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry exploit x_refsource_exploit-db
https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/44842/
Issue Tracking, Patch, Vendor Advisory x_refsource_misc
https://bugs.webkit.org/show_bug.cgi?id=186164

Scores

CVSS v3 7.5
EPSS 0.7535
EPSS Percentile 98.9%
Attack Vector NETWORK
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

Details

Status published
Products (1)
webkitgtk/webkitgtk\+ < 2.21.3
Published Jun 01, 2018
Tracked Since Feb 18, 2026