dbcve.org
Actively exploited in the wild. This CVE is on the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities list — treat remediation as urgent. Federal remediation due by 28 Jul 2022.
LinuxOperating system · Oracle

CVE-2014-7169

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2014-09-25
Patch available
A vendor patch is available. No clean upgrade release — apply the published patch.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
In the wild High EPSS 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
GNU Bash through 4.3 bash43-025 processes trailing strings after certain malformed function definitions in the values of environment variables, which allows remote attackers to write to files or possibly have unknown other impact via a crafted environment, as demonstrated by vectors involving the ForceCommand feature in OpenSSH sshd, the mod_cgi and mod_cgid modules in the Apache HTTP Server, scripts executed by unspecified DHCP clients, and other situations in which setting the environment occurs across a privilege boundary from Bash execution. NOTE: this vulnerability exists because of an incomplete fix for CVE-2014-6271.

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

CVE-2014-7169 is an incomplete fix for the original Shellshock vulnerability (CVE-2014-6271). GNU Bash versions through 4.3 bash43-025 fail to properly parse trailing strings after malformed function definitions in environment variable values, allowing remote attackers to execute arbitrary commands or write to files via crafted environment variables set across privilege boundaries.

MitigationUpdate Bash to a version later than bash43-025, or apply the complete patch for this vulnerability. Audit and restart services that use Bash (SSH, Apache with CGI, DHCP clients) to ensure the patched Bash is loaded.

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
LinuxOperating system
Affected:= 4= 5= 6
Gluster Storage Server For On PremiseApplication
Affected:= 2.1
VirtualizationApplication
Affected:= 3.4
Enterprise LinuxOperating system
Affected:= 4.0= 5.0= 6.0= 7.0
Enterprise Linux DesktopOperating system
Affected:= 5.0= 6.0= 7.0
Enterprise Linux EusOperating system
Affected:= 5.9= 6.4= 6.5= 7.3= 7.4= 7.5= 7.6= 7.7
Enterprise Linux For Ibm Z SystemsOperating system
Affected:= 5.9_s390x= 6.4_s390x= 6.5_s390x= 7.3_s390x= 7.4_s390x= 7.5_s390x= 7.6_s390x= 7.7_s390x
Enterprise Linux For Power Big EndianOperating system
Affected:= 5.0_ppc= 5.9_ppc= 6.0_ppc64= 6.4_ppc64= 7.0_ppc64

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
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

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 Bash version
    Run `bash --version` or `rpm -q bash` to obtain the version number
    Affected if Version is GNU Bash through 4.3 bash43-025 (any version before bash43-026)
  2. Verify Apache CGI modules are enabled
    Check for enabled mod_cgi or mod_cgid: `httpd -M 2>/dev/null | grep -E 'cgid?$'` or inspect Apache config files for 'LoadModule cgi_module' or 'LoadModule cgid_module'
    Affected if Apache mod_cgi or mod_cgid is loaded and CGI scripts are permitted
  3. Check OpenSSH ForceCommand configuration
    Inspect sshd_config for 'ForceCommand' directives: `grep -r 'ForceCommand' /etc/ssh/sshd_config` or check for Match blocks containing ForceCommand
    Affected if OpenSSH is configured with ForceCommand enabled
  4. Identify DHCP client script usage
    Check for DHCP client scripts in /etc/dhcp, /etc/dhcp3, or NetworkManager script directories, or examine network interface configurations for DHCP
    Affected if System uses DHCP client scripts that Bash may process on lease renewal

Your environment is affected if Bash version is 4.3 bash43-025 or earlier AND you have any of the vulnerable entry points (Apache CGI, OpenSSH ForceCommand, or DHCP client scripts) enabled and exposed to untrusted input.

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
Patch available Apply the vendor patch
Vendor patch www.oracle.com →
Interim mitigation

Update Bash to a version later than bash43-025, or apply the complete patch for this vulnerability. Audit and restart services that use Bash (SSH, Apache with CGI, DHCP clients) to ensure the patched Bash is loaded.

Recommended fix High confidence

Bash 4.3 patch 26 or later; or upgrade to latest vendor-provided bash package for your distribution (e.g., RHEL 7.0 users should apply RHSA-2014:1311)

  1. Check current bash version with: bash --version
  2. Update package manager cache: yum clean all (for RHEL/CentOS) or apt-get update (for Debian/Ubuntu)
  3. Apply security updates for bash: yum update bash (for RHEL/CentOS) or apt-get install bash (for Debian/Ubuntu)
  4. Verify the patched version: bash --version (should be bash 4.3 patch 26 or later, or vendor-patched version)
  5. Test for CVE-2014-7169 vulnerability using publicly available test scripts or: env X='() { (a)=>\' bash -c "echo date"
Caveat Minimal - bash updates rarely introduce breaking changes; however, test any bash-dependent scripts after upgrading

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

Fix this in Linux Exploited in the wild — priority engagement
  • Consultation6.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
15.0 hours of engineering $2,730
Get it fixed fast

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $4,368.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2014-7169 — 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-2014-7169 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