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LinuxOperating system · Oracle

CVE-2015-0235

HIGH · 10.0 CVSS v2.0 Published 2015-01-28
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 2.18 / 3.7.1 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
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
Heap-based buffer overflow in the __nss_hostname_digits_dots function in glibc 2.2, and other 2.x versions before 2.18, allows context-dependent attackers to execute arbitrary code via vectors related to the (1) gethostbyname or (2) gethostbyname2 function, aka "GHOST."

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

Heap-based buffer overflow in glibc's __nss_hostname_digits_dots function allows arbitrary code execution via malicious hostname input to gethostbyname/gethostbyname2. This affects glibc versions 2.2 through 2.17, and was patched in version 2.18.

MitigationUpgrade glibc to version 2.18 or later to patch the vulnerability. Restart affected services after patching to ensure they load the updated library.

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:= 5= 7
Debian LinuxOperating system
Affected:= 7.0= 8.0
VirtualizationApplication
Affected:= 6.0
PHPApplication
Affected:>= 5.4.0, < 5.4.38>= 5.5.0, < 5.5.22>= 5.6.0, < 5.6.6
GlibcFramework / library
Affected:>= 2.0, < 2.18
Communications Application Session ControllerApplication
Affected:< 3.7.1
Communications Eagle Application ProcessorApplication
Affected:= 16.0
Communications Eagle Lnp Application ProcessorApplication
Affected:= 10.0

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 glibc version
    Run 'ldd --version' or 'rpm -qa | grep glibc' (RHEL/CentOS) or 'dpkg -l | grep libc6' (Debian) to identify the installed glibc version
    Affected if glibc version is 2.0 through 2.17 (versions below 2.18)
  2. Verify gethostbyname usage
    Review application source code or binary dependencies to confirm calls to gethostbyname() or gethostbyname2() functions from glibc
    Affected if applications use these glibc functions to resolve hostnames from untrusted input
  3. Check PHP version if deployed
    Run 'php -v' or check installed PHP packages via 'rpm -qa | grep php' or 'dpkg -l | grep php'
    Affected if PHP version is 5.4.0-5.4.37, 5.5.0-5.5.21, or 5.6.0-5.6.5 and uses gethostbyname with external input
  4. Identify exposed network services
    Audit running services and applications that perform hostname resolution from user-controlled or network-supplied data
    Affected if services accept hostname strings from untrusted sources and pass them to gethostbyname/gethostbyname2

Your environment is affected if glibc version is below 2.18 AND you have applications or services that call gethostbyname/gethostbyname2 with hostname input from untrusted sources.

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 2.18 / 3.7.1 / 5.4.38 or later
Fixed in 2.183.7.15.4.38
Vendor patch www.oracle.com →
Interim mitigation

Upgrade glibc to version 2.18 or later to patch the vulnerability. Restart affected services after patching to ensure they load the updated library.

Recommended fix High confidence

glibc 2.18 or later

  1. Identify the glibc version currently installed (e.g., 'ldd --version' or 'rpm -q glibc')
  2. For Red Hat Enterprise Linux / CentOS: run 'yum update glibc' or 'yum update' to apply the fix
  3. For Debian / Ubuntu: run 'apt-get update && apt-get upgrade glibc'
  4. For other Linux distributions: obtain the vendor-supplied glibc update from your distribution's security repository
  5. After updating glibc, reboot the system to ensure all processes use the patched library
  6. Verify the fix by checking the glibc version is now 2.18 or later (e.g., 'ldd --version')
Caveat Major glibc upgrades may require testing applications for compatibility; some older binaries may need recompilation

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

Fix this in Linux Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
20.0 hours of engineering $3,500
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $5,600.

Scan for this in your stack

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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-2015-0235 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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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