FreeBSDOperating system
CVE-2015-1416
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 · uneditedLarry Wall's patch; patch in FreeBSD 10.2-RC1 before 10.2-RC1-p1, 10.2 before 10.2-BETA2-p2, and 10.1 before 10.1-RELEASE-p16; Bitrig; GNU patch before 2.2.5; and possibly other patch variants allow remote attackers to execute arbitrary shell commands via a crafted patch file.
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 confidenceArbitrary command execution vulnerability in multiple patch implementations (GNU patch, FreeBSD patch, Bitrig) where a specially crafted patch file can inject and execute arbitrary shell commands when applied. The vulnerability stems from insufficient validation of patch file content allowing shell metacharacters to be interpreted by the underlying shell during patch application.
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
FreeBSDOperating system
= 10.0= 10.1= 10.2CVSS 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
- Local
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- Required
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Check FreeBSD base system versionRun `uname -a` or `freebsd-version` to identify the installed FreeBSD release versionAffected if The version shows 10.0, 10.1, or 10.2
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Identify patch utility originRun `which patch` and `patch --version` to determine if the system uses FreeBSD patch or GNU patchAffected if Running FreeBSD 10.0-10.2 with its native patch utility (not a separately installed GNU patch)
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Check GNU patch version if installed separatelyIf GNU patch is installed via ports/packages, run `pkg info` or check the installed version against vulnerable rangesAffected if GNU patch versions prior to 2.2.5 are installed on the system
A system is affected if it runs FreeBSD 10.0, 10.1, or 10.2 and uses the native FreeBSD patch utility to apply untrusted or unverified patch files containing shell metacharacters.
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.
From vendor dataAvoid applying untrusted or unverified patch files. Update affected patch utilities to the fixed versions (GNU patch 2.2.5+, FreeBSD 10.1-RELEASE-p16, 10.2-BETA2-p2, or 10.2-RC1-p1). Consider running patch in isolated sandboxed environments as an additional safeguard.
Fix this in FreeBSD
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation1.0 h
- Implementation1.0 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 $1,376.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2015-1416 — 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-2015-1416 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
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data