Ubuntu LinuxOperating system · Canonical
CVE-2015-3308
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 · uneditedDouble free vulnerability in lib/x509/x509_ext.c in GnuTLS before 3.3.14 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service or possibly have unspecified other impact via a crafted CRL distribution point.
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 confidenceDouble free vulnerability in GnuTLS lib/x509/x509_ext.c before 3.3.14 allows remote attackers to cause heap corruption via a crafted CRL distribution point. The flaw occurs when processing X.509 certificate extensions containing malicious CRL distribution points, leading to potential code execution or denial of service.
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
= 15.04<= 3.3.13CVSS 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
- Partial
- Integrity
- Partial
- Availability
- Partial
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/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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Identify installed GnuTLS versionRun 'gnutls-cli --version' or 'pkg-config --modversion gnutls' to retrieve the installed GnuTLS library versionAffected if Version displayed is 3.3.13 or earlier
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Check library file version on diskUse 'dpkg -l libgnutls28' on Debian/Ubuntu or check the shared library file /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libgnutls.so.* (path varies by system) for its version metadataAffected if The library version embedded in the binary is 3.3.13 or earlier
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Identify applications using GnuTLSRun 'ldd <application>' or 'lsof | grep gnutls' to list processes that link against the GnuTLS library, particularly servers or applications that validate X.509 certificatesAffected if Any application using GnuTLS for TLS/SSL connections is linked against the vulnerable library version
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Determine if X.509 CRL processing is activeReview application logs or capture network traffic to observe if the application processes X.509 certificates containing CRL Distribution Points (CDP) extension - this is typically logged during certificate chain validationAffected if Applications process certificates with CRL distribution point extensions while using the vulnerable GnuTLS version
You are affected if GnuTLS version 3.3.13 or earlier is installed AND applications using GnuTLS validate X.509 certificates containing CRL distribution points.
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 GnuTLS to version 3.3.14 or later to patch the double free vulnerability. Audit all systems using GnuTLS to ensure comprehensive coverage.
Fix this in Ubuntu Linux
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,968.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2015-3308 — 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-2015-3308 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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- 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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