CVE-2014-0142
Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.
NVD · uneditedQEMU, possibly before 2.0.0, allows local users to cause a denial of service (divide-by-zero error and crash) via a zero value in the (1) tracks field to the seek_to_sector function in block/parallels.c or (2) extent_size field in the bochs function in block/bochs.c.
Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.
dbcve analysis · high confidenceQEMU contains a divide-by-zero vulnerability in the block layer where local users can cause a crash by providing a disk image with a zero value in either the tracks field (parallels driver) or extent_size field (bochs driver). The vulnerability occurs in the seek_to_sector and bochs functions when these zero values are used in division operations.
Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.
Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.
NVD · CPE data<= 2.0.0CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.
From the vector- Attack vector
- Local
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- None
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.
dbcve checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Check installed QEMU versionRun 'qemu --version' or 'qemu-img --version' to determine the installed version numberAffected if Version is 2.0.0 or lower (any version <= 2.0.0 is affected)
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Identify if parallels or bochs disk image drivers are in useInspect any QEMU disk image configuration files or command lines for '-drive driver=parallels' or '-drive driver=bochs', or check for .parallels or .bochs image files being usedAffected if The parallels or bochs block driver is actively used to open a disk image
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Check if untrusted users can supply disk imagesReview file permissions on disk image directories and QEMU configuration to determine if local users can provide or modify disk images used by QEMU instancesAffected if Untrusted local users have write or upload access to disk images that QEMU loads
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Look for crash logs or block driver errorsSearch system logs (journalctl, /var/log/messages, /var/log/syslog) for recent QEMU crashes or block driver errors mentioning 'divide by zero' or 'parallels' or 'bochs'Affected if Recent crashes related to the block layer drivers are found
You are affected if QEMU version is 2.0.0 or lower AND untrusted users can supply disk images that use the parallels or bochs format.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.
From vendor dataUpgrade QEMU to version 2.0.0 or later which contains the fix. As a defensive measure, ensure untrusted users cannot supply or manipulate disk images used by QEMU instances.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation3.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,800.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2014-0142 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2014-0142 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
- No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
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