PHPApplication
CVE-2014-1943
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 · uneditedFine Free file before 5.17 allows context-dependent attackers to cause a denial of service (infinite recursion, CPU consumption, and crash) via a crafted indirect offset value in the magic of a file.
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 · moderate confidenceThe Fine Free file command before version 5.17 contains a vulnerability where a crafted magic file with a malicious indirect offset value triggers infinite recursion, leading to CPU exhaustion and crash (DoS). The file command parses 'magic' files to identify file types, and the indirect offset mechanism can be abused to create a recursive loop.
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
PHPApplication
>= 5.4.0, < 5.4.26>= 5.5.0, < 5.5.10
Ubuntu LinuxOperating system
= 10.04= 12.04= 12.10= 13.10
Debian LinuxOperating system
= 6.0= 7.0< 5.17CVSS 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
- Network
- Complexity
- Low
- Authentication
- None
- Confidentiality
- None
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- Partial
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:P
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 file command versionRun 'file --version' or 'file -v' to determine the installed version of the Fine Free file commandAffected if The version displayed is less than 5.17 (for example, 5.16, 5.15, etc.)
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Check PHP fileinfo extension versionRun 'php -i | grep fileinfo' or check phpinfo() output to find the fileinfo extension version, then cross-reference with the libmagic version it usesAffected if The PHP version is 5.4.0 to 5.4.25 or 5.5.0 to 5.5.9 and uses a bundled libmagic version before the 5.17 patch
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Verify Ubuntu versionRun 'lsb_release -a' or check /etc/lsb-release to identify the Ubuntu releaseAffected if The system runs Ubuntu 10.04, 12.04, 12.10, or 13.10 and has not received the package update
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Verify Debian versionRun 'cat /etc/debian_version' to identify the Debian releaseAffected if The system runs Debian 6.0 (squeeze) or Debian 7.0 (wheezy) and has not received the package update
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Identify magic file processing contextDetermine if the file command or PHP fileinfo processes magic files from untrusted sources, user uploads, or external configurationsAffected if The system processes magic files that could be crafted with malicious indirect offset values, as the vulnerability is triggered specifically by a crafted magic file
A system is affected if it runs a vulnerable version of the file command (below 5.17) or a vulnerable PHP version (5.4.0-5.4.25 or 5.5.0-5.5.9) and processes magic files, particularly from untrusted sources.
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 data5.4.265.5.105.17
Update the file command to version 5.17 or later to patch the vulnerability. Avoid processing untrusted or user-supplied magic files with the file command.
Fix this in PHP
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation1.0 h
- Testing1.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,456.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2014-1943 — 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-2014-1943 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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A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.
- 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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