Debian LinuxOperating system · Debian
CVE-2015-3427
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 · uneditedQuassel before 0.12.2 does not properly re-initialize the database session when the PostgreSQL database is restarted, which allows remote attackers to conduct SQL injection attacks via a \ (backslash) in a message. NOTE: this vulnerability exists because of an incomplete fix for CVE-2013-4422.
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 confidenceQuassel IRC client before 0.12.2 fails to properly reinitialize the database session after PostgreSQL restart, allowing remote attackers to inject SQL via a backslash character in IRC messages. This is an incomplete fix for CVE-2013-4422.
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
Debian LinuxOperating system
= 8.0<= 0.12.1CVSS 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 if Quassel IRC client is installedRun 'dpkg -l | grep quassel' on Debian, or check for quassel binary with 'which quassel' or 'quasselclient --version'. On other systems, look for the quassel package or executable.Affected if Quassel IRC client is found on the system
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Determine the installed Quassel versionRun 'quassel --version' or 'quasselclient --version' to get the exact version number. On Debian, also try 'dpkg -l quassel-core' or 'dpkg -l quassel-client'.Affected if The version is 0.12.1 or earlier, or the version cannot be determined but Quassel is present
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Confirm PostgreSQL is the database backendCheck the Quassel configuration file (typically at ~/.config/quassel-irc.org/quassel.conf or /etc/quassel/quassel.conf) for the database type. Look for 'Type=SQL' or PostgreSQL connection settings, or check 'Select backend' in the Quassel setup wizard configuration.Affected if PostgreSQL is configured as the database backend. This vulnerability does not affect QtSQL or SQLite backends.
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Check for PostgreSQL restart scenarioReview database connection logs or the Quassel core logs around times when PostgreSQL may have been restarted (service restarts, system reboots, database connection failures). The vulnerability triggers when PostgreSQL restarts and Quassel fails to reinitialize the session properly.Affected if PostgreSQL has been restarted at any point while Quassel was running, and the Quassel version is 0.12.1 or earlier.
A user is affected if they are running Quassel IRC client version 0.12.1 or earlier with PostgreSQL as the backend database, and PostgreSQL has been restarted at least once while Quassel was running.
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 to Quassel 0.12.2 or later which properly reinitializes the database session after PostgreSQL restarts.
Fix this in Debian Linux
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation1.0 h
- Implementation2.0 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 $1,664.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2015-3427 — 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-2015-3427 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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