CVE-2014-3538
file before 5.19 does not properly restrict the amount of data read during a regex search, which allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (CPU consumption) via a crafted file that triggers backtracking during processing of an awk rule.
Does this matter?
EPSS puts the probability of exploitation in the next 30 days at 11.8%, higher than 96% of all known CVEs. Patch or mitigate before the next change window.
Description
file before 5.19 does not properly restrict the amount of data read during a regex search, which allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (CPU consumption) via a crafted file that triggers backtracking during processing of an awk rule. NOTE: this vulnerability exists because of an incomplete fix for CVE-2013-7345.
- CVSS 2.0
- 5.0 MEDIUMAV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:P
- EPSS
- 11.81% probability · 96th percentile
- Public exploits
- None in Exploit-DB
- CISA KEV
- Not listed
- Weakness
- CWE-399
- Affected
- christos zoulas/file · php/php · debian/debian linux
- Source
- secalert@redhat.com
EPSS 11.8% since 4 November 2026; no change recorded yet. The dashed line is the ten per cent mark our analysts treat as “patch before the next change window”. Points are recorded when the score first appears and whenever it moves by a percentage point or more.
References
- http://lists.apple.com/archives/security-announce/2015/Apr/msg00001.htmlMailing List, Third Party Advisory
- http://mx.gw.com/pipermail/file/2014/001553.htmlBroken Link
- http://openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2014/06/30/7Mailing List, Third Party Advisory
- http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2014-1327.htmlThird Party Advisory
- http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2014-1765.htmlThird Party Advisory
- http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2014-1766.htmlThird Party Advisory
- http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2016-0760.htmlThird Party Advisory
- http://secunia.com/advisories/60696Third Party Advisory
- http://www.debian.org/security/2014/dsa-3008Third Party Advisory
- http://www.debian.org/security/2014/dsa-3021Third Party Advisory
- http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/security-advisory/cpuoct2017-3236626.htmlPatch, Third Party Advisory
- http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/topics/security/bulletinjan2015-2370101.htmlThird Party Advisory
- http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/topics/security/linuxbulletinapr2016-2952096.htmlThird Party Advisory
- http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/topics/security/linuxbulletinoct2015-2719645.htmlThird Party Advisory
- http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/68348Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry
- https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1098222Issue Tracking, Third Party Advisory
- https://github.com/file/file/commit/4a284c89d6ef11aca34da65da7d673050a5ea320Exploit, Patch, Third Party Advisory
- https://github.com/file/file/commit/69a5a43b3b71f53b0577f41264a073f495799610Patch, Third Party Advisory
- https://github.com/file/file/commit/71a8b6c0d758acb0f73e2e51421a711b5e9d6668Exploit, Patch, Third Party Advisory
- https://github.com/file/file/commit/74cafd7de9ec99a14f4480927580e501c8f852c3Exploit, Patch, Third Party Advisory
- https://github.com/file/file/commit/758e066df72fb1ac08d2eea91ddc3973d259e991Exploit, Patch, Third Party Advisory
- https://support.apple.com/HT204659Third Party Advisory
- http://lists.apple.com/archives/security-announce/2015/Apr/msg00001.htmlMailing List, Third Party Advisory
- http://mx.gw.com/pipermail/file/2014/001553.htmlBroken Link
- http://openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2014/06/30/7Mailing List, Third Party Advisory
- http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2014-1327.htmlThird Party Advisory
- http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2014-1765.htmlThird Party Advisory
- http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2014-1766.htmlThird Party Advisory
- http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2016-0760.htmlThird Party Advisory
- http://secunia.com/advisories/60696Third Party Advisory
Source: NVD record, EPSS from FIRST.org, KEV from CISA, exploits from Exploit-DB. Refreshed daily. Download this record as JSON.