CVE-2014-2855
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 · uneditedThe check_secret function in authenticate.c in rsync 3.1.0 and earlier allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (infinite loop and CPU consumption) via a user name which does not exist in the secrets 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 · high confidenceThe check_secret function in rsync's authenticate.c enters an infinite loop when presented with a username that does not exist in the secrets file, causing CPU consumption and denial of service. This occurs in rsync 3.1.0 and earlier versions.
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<= 3.1.0= 2.6.9= 2.7.0= 2.7.1= 2.7.2= 2.7.3= 2.7.4= 2.7.5= 2.7.6= 2.7.7= 2.7.8= 2.7.9CVSS 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
- Complete
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:C
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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Determine installed rsync versionRun 'rsync --version' or 'rsync -V' to display version informationAffected if Version is 3.1.0 or earlier, or matches 2.6.9, 2.7.0 through 2.7.9 listed in affected versions
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Identify if rsync daemon mode is in useCheck for running rsync daemon process with 'ps aux | grep rsync' or look for rsyncd.conf configuration fileAffected if rsyncd.conf exists and rsync daemon process is running or configured to run
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Verify rsyncd.conf has authentication enabledInspect /etc/rsyncd.conf or equivalent configuration file for 'auth users' or 'secrets file' directivesAffected if Configuration contains 'auth users' and 'secrets file' directives enabling username-based authentication
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Confirm secrets file contains user entriesCheck the file path specified by 'secrets file' in rsyncd.conf and list its contents with 'cat <secrets_file>'Affected if Secrets file exists and contains user:password entries; the vulnerability triggers when a username NOT in this file is used for authentication
You are affected if you run rsync daemon version 3.1.0 or earlier (or any 2.6.9/2.7.x version listed) with password-file authentication configured, and an attacker can send authentication requests with non-existent usernames.
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 to rsync 3.1.1 or later to patch the vulnerability. Additionally, implement network-level access controls to limit exposure of the rsync daemon to untrusted networks.
- Consultation1.0 h
- Implementation1.0 h
- Testing1.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2014-2855 — 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-2014-2855 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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