dbcve.org
Dpkg DevApplication · Debian

CVE-2014-3864

MEDIUM · 6.4 CVSS v2.0 Published 2014-05-30
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
73/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

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 · unedited
Directory traversal vulnerability in dpkg-source in dpkg-dev 1.3.0 allows remote attackers to modify files outside of the intended directories via a crafted source package that lacks a --- header line.

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 confidence

Directory traversal vulnerability in dpkg-source (dpkg-dev 1.3.0) allows remote attackers to write files outside intended directories by using specially crafted source packages that lack the required '---' header line, enabling path traversal attacks.

MitigationUpdate dpkg-dev to a version newer than 1.3.0 that includes the patch, or apply vendor-provided security patches; validate source packages contain proper header structure before extraction.

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
Dpkg DevApplication
Affected:= 1.3.0

CVSS 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
Partial
Availability
Partial

AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:P/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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Check installed dpkg-dev version
    Run 'dpkg -l dpkg-dev' or 'dpkg-source --version' to see the installed version of dpkg-dev and dpkg-source
    Affected if The version listed is 1.3.0 exactly
  2. Verify dpkg-source component exists
    Confirm the dpkg-source binary is present on the system by running 'which dpkg-source'
    Affected if dpkg-source is available and the version from step 1 is 1.3.0
  3. Confirm source package extraction usage
    Identify if dpkg-source is used to extract source packages (check for .dsc files or source package extraction workflows in your environment)
    Affected if dpkg-source is used to unpack source packages and the version is 1.3.0

You are affected if dpkg-dev/dpkg-source version 1.3.0 is installed AND you use dpkg-source to extract source packages, as the path traversal only triggers during source package extraction with malformed packages lacking the '---' header.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

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 data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Update dpkg-dev to a version newer than 1.3.0 that includes the patch, or apply vendor-provided security patches; validate source packages contain proper header structure before extraction.

Fix this in Dpkg Dev Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation1.0 h
  • Implementation1.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
5.0 hours of engineering $860
Get help mitigating

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,376.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2014-3864 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

Get it on GitHub Scan in the browser

References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2014-3864 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

What this is

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.

What belongs here
  • 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
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data