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CVE-2015-1396

A Directory Traversal vulnerability exists in the GNU patch before 2.7.4. A remote attacker can...

7.5 HighFix available

A Directory Traversal vulnerability exists in the GNU patch before 2.7.4. A remote attacker can write to arbitrary files via a symlink attack in a patch file. NOTE: this issue exists because of an incomplete fix for CVE-2015-1196.

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
High
Availability
None

Exploit likelihood

3.25%Up 1.9 points since Feb 4, 2022
90%50%10%1%

What each source reports

NVD Score used 7.5

A Directory Traversal vulnerability exists in the GNU patch before 2.7.4. A remote attacker can write to arbitrary files via a symlink attack in a patch file. NOTE: this issue exists because of an incomplete fix for CVE-2015-1196.

Record
CVE-2015-1396
CVSS 3.1
7.5 HighCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N
CVSS 2.0
6.4 MediumAV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:P/A:P
Weakness
CWE-22
Updated
2026-11-02
CVE List No score

A Directory Traversal vulnerability exists in the GNU patch before 2.7.4. A remote attacker can write to arbitrary files via a symlink attack in a patch file. NOTE: this issue exists because of an incomplete fix for CVE-2015-1196.

Record
CVE-2015-1396
Updated
2026-11-02
EUVDEUVD-2015-1533 No score

A Directory Traversal vulnerability exists in the GNU patch before 2.7.4. A remote attacker can write to arbitrary files via a symlink attack in a patch file. NOTE: this issue exists because of an incomplete fix for CVE-2015-1196.

Record
EUVD-2015-1533
Updated
2026-11-03
GitHub AdvisoriesGHSA-37cv-ggjj-37qh No score

A Directory Traversal vulnerability exists in the GNU patch before 2.7.4. A remote attacker can...

A Directory Traversal vulnerability exists in the GNU patch before 2.7.4. A remote attacker can write to arbitrary files via a symlink attack in a patch file. NOTE: this issue exists because of an incomplete fix for CVE-2015-1196.

Record
GHSA-37cv-ggjj-37qh
Updated
2026-11-02
OSV 7.5

A Directory Traversal vulnerability exists in the GNU patch before 2.7.4. A remote attacker can write to arbitrary files via a symlink attack in a patch file. NOTE: this issue exists because of an incomplete fix for CVE-2015-1196.

Record
CVE-2015-1396
CVSS 3.1
7.5 HighCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N
Updated
2026-11-02
OSVDEBIAN-CVE-2015-1396 7.5

A Directory Traversal vulnerability exists in the GNU patch before 2.7.4. A remote attacker can write to arbitrary files via a symlink attack in a patch file. NOTE: this issue exists because of an incomplete fix for CVE-2015-1196.

Record
DEBIAN-CVE-2015-1396
CVSS 3.1
7.5 HighCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N
Updated
2026-11-02
OSVUBUNTU-CVE-2015-1396 7.5

A Directory Traversal vulnerability exists in the GNU patch before 2.7.4. A remote attacker can write to arbitrary files via a symlink attack in a patch file. NOTE: this issue exists because of an incomplete fix for CVE-2015-1196.

Record
UBUNTU-CVE-2015-1396
CVSS 3.1
7.5 HighCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N
Updated
2026-11-02
OSVSUSE-SU-2015:1019-1 No score

Security update for patch

The GNU patch utility was updated to 2.7.5 to fix three security issues and one non-security bug.

The following vulnerabilities were fixed:

  • CVE-2015-1196: directory traversal flaw when handling git-style patches. This could allow an attacker to overwrite arbitrary files by tricking the user into applying a specially crafted patch. (bsc#913678)
  • CVE-2015-1395: directory traversal flaw when handling patches which rename files. This could allow an attacker to overwrite arbitrary files by tricking the user into applying a specially crafted patch. (bsc#915328)
  • CVE-2015-1396: directory traversal flaw via symbolic links. This could allow an attacker to overwrite arbitrary files by tricking the user into applying a by applying a specially crafted patch. (bsc#915329)

The following bug was fixed:

  • bsc#904519: Function names in hunks (from diff -p) are now preserved in reject files.
Record
SUSE-SU-2015:1019-1
Updated
2026-11-02
OSVUSN-2651-1 No score

patch vulnerabilities

Jakub Wilk discovered that GNU patch did not correctly handle file paths in patch files. An attacker could specially craft a patch file that could overwrite arbitrary files with the privileges of the user invoking the program. This issue only affected Ubuntu 12.04 LTS. (CVE-2010-4651)

László Böszörményi discovered that GNU patch did not correctly handle some patch files. An attacker could specially craft a patch file that could cause a denial of service. (CVE-2014-9637)

Jakub Wilk discovered that GNU patch did not correctly handle symbolic links in git style patch files. An attacker could specially craft a patch file that could overwrite arbitrary files with the privileges of the user invoking the program. This issue only affected Ubuntu 14.04 LTS and Ubuntu 14.10. (CVE-2015-1196)

Jakub Wilk discovered that GNU patch did not correctly handle file renames in git style patch files. An attacker could specially craft a patch file that could overwrite arbitrary files with the privileges of the user invoking the program. This issue only affected Ubuntu 14.04 LTS and Ubuntu 14.10. (CVE-2015-1395)

Jakub Wilk discovered the fix for CVE-2015-1196 was incomplete for GNU patch. An attacker could specially craft a patch file that could overwrite arbitrary files with the privileges of the user invoking the program. This issue only affected Ubuntu 14.04 LTS and Ubuntu 14.10. (CVE-2015-1396)

Record
USN-2651-1
Updated
2026-11-02

Affected products

Affected packages

Affected packages
PackageAffectedFixed
patch
Debian:12
before 2.7.3-1
2.7.3-1
patch
Debian:13
before 2.7.3-1
2.7.3-1
patch
Debian:14
before 2.7.3-1
2.7.3-1
patch
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Desktop 12
From an advisory covering 3 CVEs
before 2.7.5-7.1
2.7.5-7.1
patch
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server 12
From an advisory covering 3 CVEs
before 2.7.5-7.1
2.7.5-7.1
patch
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 12
From an advisory covering 3 CVEs
before 2.7.5-7.1
2.7.5-7.1
patch
Ubuntu:14.04:LTS
before 2.7.1-4ubuntu2.3, plus listed versions
2.7.1-32.7.1-42.7.1-4ubuntu12.7.1-4ubuntu2
2.7.1-4ubuntu2.3
patch
Ubuntu:14.04:LTS
From an advisory covering 5 CVEs
before 2.7.1-4ubuntu2.3, plus listed versions
2.7.1-32.7.1-42.7.1-4ubuntu12.7.1-4ubuntu2
2.7.1-4ubuntu2.3

History

History
RecordedChangedSources
affected, facts
aliasesEUVD
first indexedCVE List, GitHub Advisories, NVD, OSV

Dates are when Every CVE recorded each change. Upstream dates may differ.

In short

CVE-2015-1396 is a high vulnerability (CVSS 7.5) in Gnu Patch, published January 28, 2015. No source lists public exploit code. EPSS puts the chance of exploitation in the next 30 days at 3.25%, the 88th percentile. Fixed in patch 2.7.3-1.

References

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