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SgminerApplication · Sgminer Project

CVE-2014-4501

HIGH · 10.0 CVSS v2.0 Published 2014-07-23
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 4.3.4 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Public exploit Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click Patch available

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
Multiple stack-based buffer overflows in sgminer before 4.2.2, cgminer before 4.3.5, and BFGMiner before 3.3.0 allow remote pool servers to have unspecified impact via a long URL in a client.reconnect stratum message to the (1) extract_sockaddr or (2) parse_reconnect functions in util.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 confidence

Stack-based buffer overflows in mining software (sgminer, cgminer, BFGMiner) in the extract_sockaddr and parse_reconnect functions in util.c, triggered by a long URL in a client.reconnect stratum message from a malicious pool server, allowing remote code execution.

MitigationUpgrade to patched versions (sgminer 4.2.2+, cgminer 4.3.5+, BFGMiner 3.3.0+). If unable to upgrade immediately, use only trusted pools and disable auto-reconnect features.

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
SgminerApplication
Affected:<= 4.2.1= 4.0.0= 4.1.0= 4.1.153= 4.1.242= 4.1.271= 4.2.0
CgminerApplication
Affected:<= 4.3.4= 4.3.0= 4.3.1= 4.3.2= 4.3.3
BfgminerApplication
Affected:<= 3.2.9= 3.2.0= 3.2.1= 3.2.2= 3.2.3= 3.2.4= 3.2.5= 3.2.6= 3.2.7= 3.2.8

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
Complete
Integrity
Complete
Availability
Complete

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

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

  1. Identify installed mining software and version
    Run the miner executable with --version or -V flag. For sgminer: sgminer --version; for cgminer: cgminer --version; for bfgminer: bfgminer --version
    Affected if The installed version matches any of these: sgminer <= 4.2.1 (specific versions: 4.0.0, 4.1.0, 4.1.153, 4.1.242, 4.1.271, 4.2.0); cgminer <= 4.3.4 (specific versions: 4.3.0, 4.3.1, 4.3.2, 4.3.3); bfgminer <= 3.2.9 (specific versions: 3.2.0 through 3.2.8)
  2. Confirm the software is using stratum mining
    Check the miner configuration file or command-line parameters for a stratum pool URL (starts with stratum+tcp://) in the pool URL field
    Affected if The miner is configured to connect to a stratum pool server (the vulnerability is only triggered when the miner acts as a stratum client connecting to a pool)
  3. Check for auto-reconnect or client.reconnect feature
    Review the miner configuration file for options like 'reconnect', 'auto-reconnect', or examine pool configuration settings that control reconnection behavior after a disconnect
    Affected if Auto-reconnect is enabled; the vulnerability is triggered when the malicious pool sends a client.reconnect message with an excessively long URL

You are affected if you are running an affected version of sgminer, cgminer, or bfgminer AND using stratum mining with auto-reconnect enabled, allowing a malicious pool server to send a long URL that triggers the buffer overflow in extract_sockaddr or parse_reconnect in util.c

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.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to a release after 4.3.4
Vendor patch github.com →
Interim mitigation

Upgrade to patched versions (sgminer 4.2.2+, cgminer 4.3.5+, BFGMiner 3.3.0+). If unable to upgrade immediately, use only trusted pools and disable auto-reconnect features.

Recommended fix High confidence

sgminer: 4.2.2+ | cgminer: 4.3.5+ | BFGMiner: 3.3.0+

  1. 1. Identify which mining software is in use: sgminer, cgminer, or BFGMiner
  2. 2. Check the current version of the installed mining software using --version or -V flag
  3. 3. For sgminer users: Upgrade to version 4.2.2 or later from the official repository
  4. 4. For cgminer users: Upgrade to version 4.3.5 or later from the official repository (https://github.com/ckolivas/cgminer)
  5. 5. For BFGMiner users: Upgrade to version 3.3.0 or later from the official repository (https://github.com/luke-jr/bfgminer)
  6. 6. After upgrade, verify the new version is installed correctly
  7. 7. Restart the mining software to ensure the patched version is running
Caveat These are minor version upgrades within the same software family; minimal risk expected. However, ensure any custom configurations are backed up before upgrading.

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Sgminer Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
7.0 hours of engineering $1,240
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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-2014-4501 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

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What belongs here
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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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