{"id":"CVE-2014-9621","aliases":["DEBIAN-CVE-2014-9621","EUVD-2014-9434","GHSA-37mq-9v9g-wmfw","MGASA-2015-0030","MGASA-2015-0040","SUSE-SU-2017:3048-1","UBUNTU-CVE-2014-9621","USN-3686-1"],"status":"published","title":"The ELF parser in file 5.16 through 5.21 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service via...","description":"The ELF parser in file 5.16 through 5.21 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service via a long string.","severity":{"version":"2.0","score":5,"vector":"AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:P","level":"medium","assessor":"primary","from":"nvd"},"epss":{"day":"2026-11-09","score":0.02976,"percentile":0.87362,"model":"v2026.06.15"},"facts":{"in_kev":false,"known_exploited":false,"public_exploit":false,"fix_available":true},"cwes":["CWE-399"],"published":"2015-01-19T16:47:36Z","modified":"2026-10-23T15:47:30Z","fixes":[{"ecosystem":"Debian:12","package":"file","fixed_in":["1:5.21+15-1"],"sources":["osv"]},{"ecosystem":"Debian:13","package":"file","fixed_in":["1:5.21+15-1"],"sources":["osv"]},{"ecosystem":"Debian:14","package":"file","fixed_in":["1:5.21+15-1"],"sources":["osv"]},{"ecosystem":"Ubuntu:14.04:LTS","package":"file","fixed_in":["1:5.14-2ubuntu3.4"],"sources":["osv"]}],"affected":[{"source":"osv","ecosystem":"Debian:12","package":"file","ranges":[{"type":"ECOSYSTEM","events":[{"introduced":"0"},{"fixed":"1:5.21+15-1"}]}]},{"source":"osv","ecosystem":"Debian:13","package":"file","ranges":[{"type":"ECOSYSTEM","events":[{"introduced":"0"},{"fixed":"1:5.21+15-1"}]}]},{"source":"osv","ecosystem":"Debian:14","package":"file","ranges":[{"type":"ECOSYSTEM","events":[{"introduced":"0"},{"fixed":"1:5.21+15-1"}]}]},{"source":"osv","ecosystem":"Mageia:4","package":"file","ranges":[{"type":"ECOSYSTEM","events":[{"introduced":"0"},{"fixed":"5.16-1.10.mga4"}]}],"bundled":2},{"source":"osv","ecosystem":"Mageia:4","package":"php","ranges":[{"type":"ECOSYSTEM","events":[{"introduced":"0"},{"fixed":"5.5.21-1.mga4"}]}],"bundled":8},{"source":"osv","ecosystem":"Mageia:4","package":"php-apc","ranges":[{"type":"ECOSYSTEM","events":[{"introduced":"0"},{"fixed":"3.1.15-4.11.mga4"}]}],"bundled":8},{"source":"osv","ecosystem":"Mageia:4","package":"libgd","ranges":[{"type":"ECOSYSTEM","events":[{"introduced":"0"},{"fixed":"2.1.0-3.2.mga4"}]}],"bundled":8},{"source":"osv","ecosystem":"SUSE:Linux Enterprise Desktop 12 SP2","package":"file","ranges":[{"type":"ECOSYSTEM","events":[{"introduced":"0"},{"fixed":"5.22-10.3.1"}]}],"bundled":5},{"source":"osv","ecosystem":"SUSE:Linux Enterprise Desktop 12 SP3","package":"file","ranges":[{"type":"ECOSYSTEM","events":[{"introduced":"0"},{"fixed":"5.22-10.3.1"}]}],"bundled":5},{"source":"osv","ecosystem":"SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server for Raspberry Pi 12 SP2","package":"file","ranges":[{"type":"ECOSYSTEM","events":[{"introduced":"0"},{"fixed":"5.22-10.3.1"}]}],"bundled":5},{"source":"osv","ecosystem":"SUSE:Linux Enterprise Software Development Kit 12 SP2","package":"file","ranges":[{"type":"ECOSYSTEM","events":[{"introduced":"0"},{"fixed":"5.22-10.3.1"}]}],"bundled":5},{"source":"osv","ecosystem":"SUSE:Linux Enterprise Software Development Kit 12 SP2","package":"python-magic","ranges":[{"type":"ECOSYSTEM","events":[{"introduced":"0"},{"fixed":"5.22-10.3.1"}]}],"bundled":5},{"source":"osv","ecosystem":"SUSE:Linux Enterprise Software Development Kit 12 SP3","package":"file","ranges":[{"type":"ECOSYSTEM","events":[{"introduced":"0"},{"fixed":"5.22-10.3.1"}]}],"bundled":5},{"source":"osv","ecosystem":"SUSE:Linux Enterprise Software Development Kit 12 SP3","package":"python-magic","ranges":[{"type":"ECOSYSTEM","events":[{"introduced":"0"},{"fixed":"5.22-10.3.1"}]}],"bundled":5},{"source":"osv","ecosystem":"SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server 12 SP2","package":"file","ranges":[{"type":"ECOSYSTEM","events":[{"introduced":"0"},{"fixed":"5.22-10.3.1"}]}],"bundled":5},{"source":"osv","ecosystem":"SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 12 SP2","package":"file","ranges":[{"type":"ECOSYSTEM","events":[{"introduced":"0"},{"fixed":"5.22-10.3.1"}]}],"bundled":5},{"source":"osv","ecosystem":"SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server 12 SP3","package":"file","ranges":[{"type":"ECOSYSTEM","events":[{"introduced":"0"},{"fixed":"5.22-10.3.1"}]}],"bundled":5},{"source":"osv","ecosystem":"SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 12 SP3","package":"file","ranges":[{"type":"ECOSYSTEM","events":[{"introduced":"0"},{"fixed":"5.22-10.3.1"}]}],"bundled":5},{"source":"osv","ecosystem":"Ubuntu:14.04:LTS","package":"file","ranges":[{"type":"ECOSYSTEM","events":[{"introduced":"0"},{"fixed":"1:5.14-2ubuntu3.4"}]}],"versions":["5.11-2ubuntu4","1:5.14-2ubuntu1","1:5.14-2ubuntu2","1:5.14-2ubuntu3","1:5.14-2ubuntu3.1","1:5.14-2ubuntu3.2","1:5.14-2ubuntu3.3"]},{"source":"osv","ecosystem":"Ubuntu:14.04:LTS","package":"file","ranges":[{"type":"ECOSYSTEM","events":[{"introduced":"0"},{"fixed":"1:5.14-2ubuntu3.4"}]}],"versions":["5.11-2ubuntu4","1:5.14-2ubuntu1","1:5.14-2ubuntu2","1:5.14-2ubuntu3","1:5.14-2ubuntu3.1","1:5.14-2ubuntu3.2","1:5.14-2ubuntu3.3"],"bundled":5},{"source":"osv","ecosystem":"Ubuntu:16.04:LTS","package":"file","ranges":[{"type":"ECOSYSTEM","events":[{"introduced":"0"},{"fixed":"1:5.25-2ubuntu1.1"}]}],"versions":["1:5.22+15-2ubuntu1","1:5.25-2ubuntu1"],"bundled":5},{"source":"osv","ecosystem":"Ubuntu:18.04:LTS","package":"file","ranges":[{"type":"ECOSYSTEM","events":[{"introduced":"0"},{"fixed":"1:5.32-2ubuntu0.1"}]}],"versions":["1:5.32-1","1:5.32-2"],"bundled":5}],"products":[{"vendor":"file_project","product":"file"}],"references":[{"url":"http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2015/01/17/9","tags":["mailing-list","x_refsource_MLIST","x_transferred","web"]},{"url":"https://usn.ubuntu.com/3686-1/","tags":["vendor-advisory","x_refsource_UBUNTU","x_transferred","web"]},{"url":"http://mx.gw.com/pipermail/file/2014/001654.html","tags":["mailing-list","x_refsource_MLIST","x_transferred","web","report"]},{"url":"http://mx.gw.com/pipermail/file/2015/001660.html","tags":["mailing-list","x_refsource_MLIST","x_transferred","Vendor Advisory","advisory"]},{"url":"https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/201503-08","tags":["vendor-advisory","x_refsource_GENTOO","x_transferred","advisory"]},{"url":"http://advisories.mageia.org/MGASA-2015-0040.html","tags":["x_refsource_CONFIRM","x_transferred","advisory"]},{"url":"https://github.com/file/file/commit/65437cee25199dbd385fb35901bc0011e164276c","tags":["x_refsource_CONFIRM","x_transferred","fix"]},{"url":"https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2014-9621"},{"url":"https://usn.ubuntu.com/3686-1"},{"url":"https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-37mq-9v9g-wmfw"},{"url":"https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2014-9621","tags":["advisory"]},{"url":"https://advisories.mageia.org/MGASA-2015-0030.html","tags":["advisory"]},{"url":"https://bugs.mageia.org/show_bug.cgi?id=15064","tags":["report"]},{"url":"http://openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2015/01/17/9","tags":["web"]},{"url":"https://www.debian.org/security/2015/dsa-3121","tags":["web"]},{"url":"https://advisories.mageia.org/MGASA-2015-0040.html","tags":["advisory"]},{"url":"https://bugs.mageia.org/show_bug.cgi?id=15121","tags":["report"]},{"url":"http://php.net/ChangeLog-5.php#5.5.21","tags":["web"]},{"url":"https://www.suse.com/support/update/announcement/2017/suse-su-20173048-1/","tags":["advisory"]},{"url":"https://bugzilla.suse.com/1009966","tags":["report"]},{"url":"https://bugzilla.suse.com/1063269","tags":["report"]},{"url":"https://bugzilla.suse.com/910252","tags":["report"]},{"url":"https://bugzilla.suse.com/910253","tags":["report"]},{"url":"https://bugzilla.suse.com/913650","tags":["report"]},{"url":"https://bugzilla.suse.com/913651","tags":["report"]},{"url":"https://bugzilla.suse.com/917152","tags":["report"]},{"url":"https://bugzilla.suse.com/996511","tags":["report"]},{"url":"https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2014-8116","tags":["web"]},{"url":"https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2014-8117","tags":["web"]},{"url":"https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2014-9620","tags":["web"]},{"url":"https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2014-9621","tags":["web"]},{"url":"https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2014-9653","tags":["web"]},{"url":"https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2014-9621","tags":["report"]},{"url":"https://ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-3686-1","tags":["advisory"]},{"url":"https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2014-9621","tags":["report"]},{"url":"https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2014-9620","tags":["report"]},{"url":"https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2014-9653","tags":["report"]},{"url":"https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2015-8865","tags":["report"]},{"url":"https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2018-10360","tags":["report"]}],"sources":{"cve":[{"id":"CVE-2014-9621","description":"The ELF parser in file 5.16 through 5.21 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service via a long string.","status":"published","published":"2015-01-21T18:00:00Z","modified":"2024-08-06T13:47:41.915Z","updated_at":"2026-11-02T14:33:42.882687Z"}],"euvd":[{"id":"EUVD-2014-9434","description":"The ELF parser in file 5.16 through 5.21 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service via a long string.","status":"published","published":"2015-01-21T18:00:00Z","modified":"2024-08-06T13:47:41Z","updated_at":"2026-11-03T01:56:48.88782Z"}],"ghsa":[{"id":"GHSA-37mq-9v9g-wmfw","title":"The ELF parser in file 5.16 through 5.21 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service via...","description":"The ELF parser in file 5.16 through 5.21 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service via a long string.","status":"published","published":"2022-05-14T03:18:02Z","modified":"2025-04-12T12:45:32Z","updated_at":"2026-11-02T15:01:20.846668Z"}],"nvd":[{"id":"CVE-2014-9621","description":"The ELF parser in file 5.16 through 5.21 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service via a long string.","status":"published","published":"2015-01-21T18:59:07.153Z","modified":"2026-06-17T00:18:39.713Z","cvss":[{"version":"2.0","score":5,"vector":"AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:P","level":"medium","assessor":"primary"}],"cwes":["CWE-399"],"updated_at":"2026-11-02T14:02:58.030217Z"}],"osv":[{"id":"CVE-2014-9621","description":"The ELF parser in file 5.16 through 5.21 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service via a long string.","status":"published","published":"2015-01-21T18:59:07Z","modified":"2026-04-16T06:18:06.413769362Z","updated_at":"2026-11-02T15:44:00.097545Z"},{"id":"DEBIAN-CVE-2014-9621","description":"The ELF parser in file 5.16 through 5.21 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service via a long string.","status":"published","published":"2015-01-21T18:59:07.153Z","modified":"2026-10-23T15:47:30.807233883Z","updated_at":"2026-11-02T15:45:26.442161Z"},{"id":"MGASA-2015-0030","title":"Updated file packages fix security vulnerabilities","description":"Updated file packages fix security vulnerabilities:\n\nAlexander Cherepanov reported that using the file command on a\nspecially-crafted ELF binary could lead to a denial of service due to\nuncontrolled resource consumption while processing ELF section headers\n(CVE-2014-9620, CVE-2014-9621).\n\nAs part of the fixes, several limits on aspects of the detection were added\nor tightened, sometimes resulting in messages like \"recursion limit exceeded\"\nor \"too many program header sections\".\n\nTo mitigate such shortcomings, these limits are controllable by a new -P,\n--parameter option in the file program.\n","status":"published","published":"2015-01-19T16:47:36Z","modified":"2026-04-16T06:25:14.612923084Z","updated_at":"2026-11-02T15:49:39.488462Z"},{"id":"MGASA-2015-0040","title":"Updated php packages fix security vulnerabilities","description":"Updated php and libgd packages fix security vulnerabilities:\n\nDouble free vulnerability in the zend_ts_hash_graceful_destroy function in\nzend_ts_hash.c in the Zend Engine in PHP before 5.5.21 allows remote\nattackers to cause a denial of service or possibly have unspecified other\nimpact via unknown vectors (CVE-2014-9425).\n\nsapi/cgi/cgi_main.c in the CGI component in PHP before 5.5.21, when mmap is\nused to read a .php file, does not properly consider the mapping's length\nduring processing of an invalid file that begins with a # character and lacks\na newline character, which causes an out-of-bounds read and might allow remote\nattackers to obtain sensitive information from php-cgi process memory by\nleveraging the ability to upload a .php file or trigger unexpected code\nexecution if a valid PHP script is present in memory locations adjacent to the\nmapping (CVE-2014-9427).\n\nUse after free vulnerability in unserialize() in PHP before 5.5.21\n(CVE-2015-0231).\n\nFree called on an uninitialized pointer in php-exif in PHP before 5.5.21\n(CVE-2015-0232).\n\nThe readelf.c source file has been removed from PHP's bundled copy of file's\nlibmagic, eliminating exposure to denial of service issues in ELF file parsing\nsuch as CVE-2014-8116, CVE-2014-8117, CVE-2014-9620 and CVE-2014-9621 in PHP's\nfileinfo module.\n\nA buffer read overflow in gd_gif_in.c in the php#68601 bug referenced in the\nPHP 5.5.21 ChangeLog has been fixed in the libgd package.\n\nThe php package has been updated to version 5.5.21 to fix these issues and\nother bugs. Please see the upstream ChangeLog for more information.\n","status":"published","published":"2015-01-27T21:08:29Z","modified":"2026-04-16T06:25:14.853747496Z","updated_at":"2026-11-02T15:49:39.488462Z"},{"id":"SUSE-SU-2017:3048-1","title":"Security update for file","description":"\n\nThe GNU file utility was updated to version 5.22.\n\nSecurity issues fixed:\n\n- CVE-2014-9621: The ELF parser in file allowed remote attackers to cause a denial of service via a long string. (bsc#913650)\n- CVE-2014-9620: The ELF parser in file allowed remote attackers to cause a denial of service via a large number of notes. (bsc#913651)\n- CVE-2014-9653: readelf.c in file did not consider that pread calls sometimes read only a subset of the available data, which allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (uninitialized memory access) or possibly have unspecified other impact via a crafted ELF file. (bsc#917152)\n- CVE-2014-8116: The ELF parser (readelf.c) in file allowed remote attackers to cause a denial of service (CPU consumption or crash) via a large number of (1) program or (2) section headers or (3) invalid capabilities. (bsc#910253)\n- CVE-2014-8117: softmagic.c in file did not properly limit recursion, which allowed remote attackers to cause a denial of service (CPU consumption or crash) via unspecified vectors. (bsc#910253)\n\nVersion update to file version 5.22\n\n* add indirect relative for TIFF/Exif\n* restructure elf note printing to avoid repeated messages\n* add note limit, suggested by Alexander Cherepanov\n* Bail out on partial pread()'s (Alexander Cherepanov)\n* Fix incorrect bounds check in file_printable (Alexander Cherepanov)\n* PR/405: ignore SIGPIPE from uncompress programs\n* change printable -\u003e file_printable and use it in more places for safety\n* in ELF, instead of '(uses dynamic libraries)' when PT_INTERP is present print the interpreter name.\n\nVersion update to file version 5.21\n\n* there was an incorrect free in magic_load_buffers()\n* there was an out of bounds read for some pascal strings\n* there was a memory leak in magic lists\n* don't interpret strings printed from files using the current\n  locale, convert them to ascii format first.\n* there was an out of bounds read in elf note reads\n\nUpdate to file version 5.20\n\n* recognize encrypted CDF documents\n* add magic_load_buffers from Brooks Davis\n* add thumbs.db support\n\nAdditional non-security bug fixes:\n\n* Fixed a memory corruption during rpmbuild (bsc#1063269)\n* Backport of a fix for an increased printable string length as found in file 5.30 (bsc#996511)\n* file command throws 'Composite Document File V2 Document, corrupt: Can't read SSAT' error against excel 97/2003 file format. (bsc#1009966)\n\n","status":"published","published":"2017-11-22T15:30:27Z","modified":"2026-02-04T03:05:51.554591Z","updated_at":"2026-11-02T15:53:44.209561Z"},{"id":"UBUNTU-CVE-2014-9621","description":"The ELF parser in file 5.16 through 5.21 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service via a long string.","status":"published","published":"2015-01-21T00:00:00Z","modified":"2026-04-22T09:18:42.078137Z","updated_at":"2026-11-02T15:54:09.378953Z"},{"id":"USN-3686-1","title":"file vulnerabilities","description":"Alexander Cherepanov discovered that file incorrectly handled a large\nnumber of notes. An attacker could use this issue to cause a denial of\nservice. This issue only affected Ubuntu 14.04 LTS. (CVE-2014-9620)\n\nAlexander Cherepanov discovered that file incorrectly handled certain long\nstrings. An attacker could use this issue to cause a denial of service.\nThis issue only affected Ubuntu 14.04 LTS. (CVE-2014-9621)\n\nAlexander Cherepanov discovered that file incorrectly handled certain\nmalformed ELF files. An attacker could use this issue to cause a denial of\nservice, or possibly execute arbitrary code. This issue only affected\nUbuntu 14.04 LTS. (CVE-2014-9653)\n\nIt was discovered that file incorrectly handled certain magic files. An\nattacker could use this issue with a specially crafted magic file to cause\na denial of service, or possibly execute arbitrary code. This issue only\naffected Ubuntu 14.04 LTS. (CVE-2015-8865)\n\nIt was discovered that file incorrectly handled certain malformed ELF\nfiles. An attacker could use this issue to cause a denial of service.\n(CVE-2018-10360)\n","status":"published","published":"2018-06-14T12:37:10Z","modified":"2026-04-22T09:45:59.119186Z","updated_at":"2026-11-02T16:58:13.496563Z"}]}}