CVE-2014-9488
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 is_utf8_well_formed function in GNU less before 475 allows remote attackers to have unspecified impact via malformed UTF-8 characters, which triggers an out-of-bounds read.
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 is_utf8_well_formed function in GNU less versions prior to 475 contains an out-of-bounds read vulnerability when processing malformed UTF-8 characters. This allows remote attackers to read sensitive memory beyond allocated buffer boundaries via specially crafted UTF-8 input.
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= 13.1= 13.2<= 471CVSS 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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Verify GNU less is installedRun command: which less (Linux/Unix) or rpm -q less (RPM-based systems)Affected if less is not installed - not vulnerable
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Identify installed less versionRun command: less --version and note the version number in the outputAffected if version is 471 or lower indicates potential vulnerability; version 475 or higher is patched
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Confirm OpenSUSE version if applicableRun command: cat /etc/os-release and look for VERSION="13.1" or VERSION="13.2"Affected if system is OpenSUSE 13.1 or 13.2 with less <= 471 increases likelihood of vulnerability
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Determine exposure to untrusted UTF-8 inputReview logs or user practices to see if less is used to view files or output from untrusted sources (pipes, network input, user-supplied files)Affected if less is routinely used to view untrusted files or piped input containing malformed UTF-8 triggers the vulnerability
System is affected if GNU less version 471 or lower is installed and used to view content with malformed UTF-8 characters, particularly on OpenSUSE 13.1 or 13.2 systems.
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.
dbcve · scopedUpgrade GNU less to version 475 or later to patch the vulnerability. If immediate patching is not feasible, restrict access to less from untrusted sources and avoid viewing untrusted files.
GNU less >= 475
- Check current less version by running: less --version
- Upgrade less to version 475 or later using your system's package manager (e.g., zypper for openSUSE, yum/dnf for Fedora, apt for Debian/Ubuntu)
- Verify the upgrade was successful by running: less --version and confirming the version number is 475 or higher
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,984.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2014-9488 — 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-2014-9488 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
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