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LibxfontApplication · X

CVE-2015-1802

HIGH · 8.5 CVSS v2.0 Published 2015-03-20
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 1.4.8 or later.
See remediation →
91/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable 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
The bdfReadProperties function in bitmap/bdfread.c in X.Org libXfont before 1.4.9 and 1.5.x before 1.5.1 allows remote authenticated users to cause a denial of service (out-of-bounds write and crash) or possibly execute arbitrary code via a (1) negative or (2) large property count in a BDF font 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 confidence

A buffer overflow vulnerability exists in the bdfReadProperties function in libXfont's bitmap/bdfread.c. The function fails to properly validate the property count value when parsing BDF font files, allowing an attacker to trigger an out-of-bounds write by providing a negative or excessively large property count value. This can cause a denial of service through a crash or potentially enable arbitrary code execution.

MitigationUpgrade libXfont to version 1.4.9 or 1.5.1 or later. If immediate patching is not possible, restrict access to untrusted BDF font files and monitor for crashes in font-parsing components.

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
LibxfontApplication
Affected:<= 1.4.8= 1.5.0

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
M
Authentication
Single
Confidentiality
Complete
Integrity
Complete
Availability
Complete

AV:N/AC:M/Au:S/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 libXfont version
    Run 'rpm -q libXfont' on Red Hat systems, 'dpkg -l libxfont' on Debian systems, or check the library directly with 'strings /usr/lib/libXfont.so.6 | grep -i "libXfont"' to find the version string
    Affected if The version is 1.4.8 or lower, or exactly 1.5.0
  2. Identify BDF font file usage
    Search for BDF font files on the system with 'find /usr -name "*.bdf" 2>/dev/null' and check font configuration directories like /usr/share/fonts and ~/.fonts
    Affected if BDF font files are present and being loaded by X server or font-serving applications
  3. Check for font parser crashes
    Review system logs with 'journalctl -b | grep -i font' or 'dmesg | grep -i font' and look for segmentation faults in Xorg or font server processes related to BDF parsing
    Affected if Recent crashes occur in font-parsing components when processing BDF fonts
  4. Verify untrusted BDF font exposure
    Check if applications or services load BDF fonts from user-controlled directories, network sources, or process BDF fonts from untrusted input. Inspect running processes using libXfont with 'lsof | grep libXfont'
    Affected if The system processes BDF fonts from untrusted or external sources without validation

You are affected if libXfont version is 1.4.8 or lower, or exactly 1.5.0, AND the system loads or parses BDF font files from any source.

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.

From vendor data
Upgrade available Upgrade to a release after 1.4.8
Interim mitigation

Upgrade libXfont to version 1.4.9 or 1.5.1 or later. If immediate patching is not possible, restrict access to untrusted BDF font files and monitor for crashes in font-parsing components.

Fix this in Libxfont Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
12.0 hours of engineering $2,130
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,408.

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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-2015-1802 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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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
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