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CurlApplication · Haxx

CVE-2015-3144

HIGH · 9.0 CVSS v2.0 Published 2015-04-24
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 3.0.22 or later.
See remediation →
96/100
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 fix_hostname function in cURL and libcurl 7.37.0 through 7.41.0 does not properly calculate an index, which allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (out-of-bounds read or write and crash) or possibly have other unspecified impact via a zero-length host name, as demonstrated by "http://:80" and ":80."

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

The fix_hostname function in cURL and libcurl 7.37.0 through 7.41.0 contains an improper index calculation flaw when processing zero-length hostnames (e.g., 'http://:80' or ':80'), allowing remote attackers to trigger out-of-bounds read/write operations leading to denial of service or potentially other unspecified impact.

MitigationUpgrade cURL and libcurl to version 7.42.0 or later to obtain the patched fix_hostname function that properly handles zero-length hostnames.

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
CurlApplication
Affected:= 7.37.0= 7.37.1= 7.38.0= 7.39.0= 7.40.0= 7.41.0
Ubuntu LinuxOperating system
Affected:= 12.04= 14.04= 14.10= 15.04
Debian LinuxOperating system
Affected:= 7.0
Mysql Enterprise MonitorDatabase / datastore
Affected:<= 2.3.20<= 3.0.22
LibcurlApplication
Affected:= 7.37.0= 7.37.1= 7.38.0= 7.39= 7.40.0= 7.41.0

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
Single
Confidentiality
Complete
Integrity
Complete
Availability
Complete

AV:N/AC:L/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 curl command-line tool version
    Run 'curl --version' and note the version number in the output (e.g., 7.40.0)
    Affected if The version shown is 7.37.0, 7.37.1, 7.38.0, 7.39.0, 7.40.0, or 7.41.0
  2. Check libcurl library version
    Run 'ldd /usr/bin/curl 2>/dev/null | grep libcurl' or check your system's libcurl.so version via 'pkg-config --modversion libcurl'
    Affected if The linked libcurl library version is 7.37.0 through 7.41.0 inclusive
  3. Compare installed versions to affected range
    If you found a version number, verify it falls within 7.37.0 <= version <= 7.41.0
    Affected if The installed version is any release from 7.37.0 to 7.41.0 inclusive
  4. Identify applications using vulnerable libcurl
    Review application dependencies or binaries that link against libcurl (e.g., via 'ldd <binary>' or checking package manifests)
    Affected if Any application using a libcurl library version in the affected range

You are affected if curl, libcurl, or any application using libcurl in your environment has a version between 7.37.0 and 7.41.0 inclusive.

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 a release after 3.0.22
Interim mitigation

Upgrade cURL and libcurl to version 7.42.0 or later to obtain the patched fix_hostname function that properly handles zero-length hostnames.

Recommended fix High confidence

curl/libcurl 7.42.0 or later (or distribution-provided security update packages)

  1. 1. Identify the current curl and libcurl versions installed using: curl --version and dpkg -l | grep curl or rpm -qa | grep curl
  2. 2. For Debian/Ubuntu systems: Run sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get upgrade curl libcurl to apply available security updates
  3. 3. For systems with manually compiled curl: Download curl 7.42.0 or later from curl.haxx.se/download.html
  4. 4. Verify the upgrade was successful by running curl --version again
  5. 5. For embedded applications using libcurl: Rebuild against the new libcurl version to ensure the vulnerable library is replaced
  6. 6. Test that applications relying on curl functionality work correctly after the upgrade
Caveat Minor: curl upgrades rarely introduce breaking changes, but verify any custom curl-based applications function normally after upgrade

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

Fix this in Curl Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
15.0 hours of engineering $2,580
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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-2015-3144 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