CVE-2018-25378 Overview
CVE-2018-25378 is a local denial of service vulnerability in Notebook Pro 2.0. The application fails to validate input length in the New Notebook Name field. A local attacker can paste a string of 500 or more characters into that field and trigger an application crash when attempting to create and save the notebook. The flaw maps to [CWE-789: Memory Allocation with Excessive Size Value]. Exploitation requires local access and user interaction with the affected application, and impact is limited to availability of the Notebook Pro process.
Critical Impact
A local attacker can crash Notebook Pro 2.0 by supplying an overlong notebook name, resulting in loss of application availability and unsaved user data.
Affected Products
- Notebook Pro 2.0
Discovery Timeline
- 2026-05-25 - CVE-2018-25378 published to NVD
- 2026-05-26 - Last updated in NVD database
Technical Details for CVE-2018-25378
Vulnerability Analysis
Notebook Pro 2.0 accepts arbitrary user input into the New Notebook Name field without enforcing a maximum length. When the application processes a name containing 500 or more characters during the save operation, it terminates unexpectedly. The crash prevents the user from creating the notebook and disrupts the active session.
The weakness is classified as [CWE-789], indicating the application allocates or processes memory based on an attacker-controlled size value without proper bounds checking. The vulnerability is local-only and does not provide a path to code execution based on available public information.
Root Cause
The root cause is missing input length validation on the notebook name field. The application does not sanitize, truncate, or reject oversized strings before passing them to the save routine. The resulting condition exhausts a buffer or allocation boundary and forces the process to terminate.
Attack Vector
An attacker with local access creates a text file containing 500 or more characters, copies the content, and pastes it into the New Notebook Name field. Triggering the save action crashes Notebook Pro 2.0. The attack requires local interaction with the application and yields availability impact only.
No verified proof-of-concept code is reproduced here. See the Exploit-DB #45420 entry and the VulnCheck Denial of Service Advisory for the original technical details.
Detection Methods for CVE-2018-25378
Indicators of Compromise
- Unexpected Notebook Pro 2.0 process crashes correlated with notebook creation activity.
- Windows Application event log entries showing fault module activity for the Notebook Pro executable.
- Presence of text files staged on user systems containing 500 or more repeated characters intended for paste operations.
Detection Strategies
- Monitor application crash telemetry for repeated Notebook Pro 2.0 terminations on the same host.
- Correlate process exit events with clipboard or file activity preceding the crash to identify intentional triggers.
- Alert on creation of suspiciously large input strings written to files in user-writable directories.
Monitoring Recommendations
- Forward Windows Error Reporting and Application event log data to a centralized SIEM for cross-host analysis.
- Track Notebook Pro process lifecycle events and flag abnormal termination patterns.
- Review endpoint logs for repeated crash-and-restart cycles on workstations running Notebook Pro 2.0.
How to Mitigate CVE-2018-25378
Immediate Actions Required
- Inventory endpoints running Notebook Pro 2.0 and identify business-critical use cases.
- Restrict access to shared or multi-user systems where untrusted users could trigger the crash.
- Instruct users to avoid pasting unverified content into the notebook name field.
Patch Information
No vendor patch has been published in the referenced advisories. Users should consult the VulnCheck Denial of Service Advisory for status updates and consider migrating to a supported notebook application if no fix becomes available.
Workarounds
- Limit notebook name entries to short, known-good values and avoid pasting external content.
- Run Notebook Pro 2.0 under a standard user account to contain the impact of crashes.
- Save work frequently in alternate locations to reduce data loss from unexpected termination.
- Replace Notebook Pro 2.0 with an actively maintained alternative if the application is not essential.
# Configuration example
# No vendor configuration mitigation is available; restrict application use via group policy
# Example: block execution of NotebookPro.exe on multi-user systems
New-Item -Path "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Safer\CodeIdentifiers\0\Paths" -Force
Disclaimer: This content was generated using AI. While we strive for accuracy, please verify critical information with official sources.
