FreeBSDOperating system
CVE-2014-3951
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 HZ module in the iconv implementation in FreeBSD 10.0 before p6 and NetBSD allows context-dependent attackers to cause a denial of service (NULL pointer dereference) via a crafted argument to the iconv_open function. NOTE: this issue was SPLIT per ADT2 due to different vulnerability types. CVE-2014-5384 is used for the NULL pointer dereference.
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 HZ module in the iconv implementation in FreeBSD 10.0 before p6 and NetBSD contains a vulnerability allowing context-dependent attackers to cause a denial of service via a crafted argument to the iconv_open function, likely through improper input validation in the HZ character encoding module.
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
FreeBSDOperating system
= 10.0all versionsCVSS 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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Identify the FreeBSD version and patch levelRun 'freebsd-version -k' or 'uname -r' to get the version, then check the patch level with 'freebsd-update agents' or review the base system patch dateAffected if System runs FreeBSD 10.0 with patch level before p6 (any 10.0 release prior to the p6 patch)
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Identify the NetBSD versionRun 'uname -a' or check '/etc/release' to determine the NetBSD versionAffected if System runs any version of NetBSD (all versions are affected)
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Determine if HZ encoding is in useSearch application code and configuration files for iconv_open calls with 'HZ' as the target encoding, or grep for 'HZ' in iconv-related configurationsAffected if Any application or service uses iconv with HZ character encoding as input or output
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Check for user-controlled input reaching iconv_open with HZReview source code of applications using iconv to see if arguments to iconv_open could be influenced by external input, particularly if HZ encoding can be specified by a userAffected if User-supplied data can flow to iconv_open with HZ encoding as a parameter
A system is affected if it is FreeBSD 10.0 before p6 or any NetBSD version, and applications using iconv with the HZ character encoding are in use with potentially user-controlled input reaching the encoding parameter.
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 dataApply the FreeBSD patch p6 or later for FreeBSD 10.0, and apply the corresponding NetBSD security patches to address the vulnerability in the HZ module's iconv_open handling.
Fix this in FreeBSD
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing2.0 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 $2,848.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2014-3951 — 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-2014-3951 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
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data