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BashApplication · Gnu

CVE-2014-7187

HIGH · 10.0 CVSS v2.0 Published 2014-09-28
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
High EPSS Public exploit 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
Off-by-one error in the read_token_word function in parse.y in GNU Bash through 4.3 bash43-026 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (out-of-bounds array access and application crash) or possibly have unspecified other impact via deeply nested for loops, aka the "word_lineno" issue.

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

An off-by-one error in the read_token_word function in parse.y in GNU Bash through version 4.3 bash43-026 allows attackers to trigger out-of-bounds array access by providing deeply nested for loops, causing a denial of service (application crash) or potentially other unspecified impact.

MitigationUpdate GNU Bash to a version later than bash43-026 (e.g., bash43-027 or later) to patch the off-by-one error in the parser.

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
BashApplication
Affected:= 1.14.0= 1.14.1= 1.14.2= 1.14.3= 1.14.4= 1.14.5= 1.14.6= 1.14.7= 2.0= 2.01= 2.01.1= 2.02

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. Check installed Bash version
    Run 'bash --version' to see the version number
    Affected if Version is 1.14.0-1.14.7, 2.0, 2.01, 2.01.1, 2.02, or any 3.x/4.x version up to and including bash43-026
  2. Verify patch level for Bash 4.3
    If using Bash 4.3, check if patch level is 026 or earlier by examining the version string (e.g., 'bash-4.3' followed by the patch number)
    Affected if Running Bash 4.3 with patch level 026 or earlier
  3. Confirm nested loop trigger condition
    This vulnerability requires processing deeply nested for loops in a Bash script. The flaw exists in the parser (parse.y) in the read_token_word function.
    Affected if Bash version is within the affected range AND the parser processes scripts with deeply nested for loops

You are affected if you are running any Bash version from 1.14.0 through 1.14.7, 2.0-2.02, or 3.x/4.3 with patch level 026 or earlier, and that Bash installation parses scripts containing deeply nested for loops.

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

Update GNU Bash to a version later than bash43-026 (e.g., bash43-027 or later) to patch the off-by-one error in the parser.

Recommended fix High confidence

Bash 4.3 patch 27 (bash43-027) or later

  1. 1. Identify the current Bash version by running: bash --version
  2. 2. For Red Hat/CentOS/Fedora systems, update Bash using: yum update bash (or dnf update bash for Fedora)
  3. 3. For Debian/Ubuntu systems, update Bash using: apt-get update && apt-get install --only-upgrade bash
  4. 4. For SUSE/openSUSE systems, use: zypper update bash
  5. 5. After updating, verify the new version includes the fix by running: bash --version and checking it's version 4.3 with patch level 27 or later
  6. 6. Test critical shell scripts to ensure functionality remains intact after the update
Caveat Minor: Very old shell scripts relying on the specific buggy behavior in deeply nested for loops could potentially behave differently

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

Fix this in Bash Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation1.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
6.0 hours of engineering $1,040
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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-2014-7187 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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