Ubuntu LinuxOperating system · Canonical
CVE-2015-1856
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 · uneditedOpenStack Object Storage (Swift) before 2.3.0, when allow_version is configured, allows remote authenticated users to delete the latest version of an object by leveraging listing access to the x-versions-location container.
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 confidenceOpenStack Swift versions before 2.3.0 have an access control flaw when the allow_version feature is enabled. Authenticated users with only listing permissions to the x-versions-location container can delete the latest version of objects, bypassing intended version deletion restrictions.
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
Ubuntu LinuxOperating system
= 12.04= 14.04= 15.04<= 2.2.2CVSS 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
- Network
- Complexity
- Low
- Authentication
- Single
- Confidentiality
- None
- Integrity
- Partial
- Availability
- Partial
AV:N/AC:L/Au:S/C:N/I:P/A:P
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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Determine installed Swift versionRun the command to retrieve your Swift version (for example, 'swift --version' or check your installed package version)Affected if The installed version is 2.2.2 or earlier, or the version is unknown and the product is Ubuntu 12.04, 14.04, or 15.04 running Swift
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Identify if allow_version feature is enabledReview your Swift proxy server configuration file for the 'allow_version' setting and verify whether it is set to true or enabledAffected if The allow_version feature is enabled in the configuration
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Locate containers using x-versions-locationQuery your Swift cluster to identify any containers configured with the x-versions-location metadata attributeAffected if Containers with x-versions-location metadata exist in your environment
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Inspect ACLs on versioned containersExamine the access control list (ACL) settings on any containers that have x-versions-location configured, specifically checking for user permissionsAffected if Users with only list permissions (such as '.r:*, .rlistings' or similar) are granted access to the x-versions-location container, allowing them to delete object versions
You are affected if your Swift version is 2.2.2 or earlier (or running on Ubuntu 12.04/14.04/15.04 with an older Swift package), the allow_version feature is enabled, and ACLs on x-versions-location containers grant broader permissions than intended to users who should only have listing access.
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 dataUpgrade Swift to version 2.3.0 or later, or if upgrading is not immediately feasible, restrict access to the x-versions-location container and audit existing ACL configurations to ensure users only have permissions appropriate to their role.
Fix this in Ubuntu Linux
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $6,176.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2015-1856 — 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-2015-1856 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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