Ubuntu LinuxOperating system · Canonical
CVE-2015-5200
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 · uneditedThe trace functionality in libvdpau before 1.1.1, when used in a setuid or setgid application, allows local users to write to arbitrary files via unspecified vectors.
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 · moderate confidenceThe trace functionality in libvdpau before version 1.1.1 contains a flaw that allows local users to write to arbitrary files when the library is used within a setuid or setgid application. This represents a local privilege escalation vulnerability enabling unprivileged local users to potentially overwrite files with the privileges of the vulnerable application.
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<= 1.1.0CVSS 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
- Local
- Complexity
- M
- Authentication
- None
- Confidentiality
- None
- Integrity
- Complete
- Availability
- Complete
AV:L/AC:M/Au:N/C:N/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Check installed libvdpau versionRun 'dpkg -l libvdpau1' on Debian/Ubuntu systems, or 'rpm -q libvdpau' on RHEL-based systems, or inspect the library file directly with 'ls -l /usr/lib/libvdpau.so*' and check for version symlinksAffected if The installed version is 1.1.0 or earlier, or the package version is unknown/unlisted for Ubuntu 12.04, 14.04, or 15.04
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Check if trace functionality is enabledInspect the environment for the VDPAU_TRACE variable by running 'env | grep -i vdpau' or specifically 'echo $VDPAU_TRACE'Affected if VDPAU_TRACE environment variable is set to any non-empty value, which enables the trace functionality in libvdpau
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Identify setuid or setgid applicationsRun 'find /usr -perm -4000 -o -perm -2000 2>/dev/null' to list privileged binaries, or check specific applications known to use VDPAU (video players, graphics tools) with 'getcap -r /usr 2>/dev/null' or by examining application permissionsAffected if Any setuid or setgid application exists on the system that loads or can load the libvdpau library
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Verify if privileged apps load libvdpauFor identified setuid/setgid applications, check if they link to libvdpau using 'ldd /path/to/binary | grep vdpau' or 'objdump -p /path/to/binary | grep NEEDED'Affected if A setuid or setgid application has a runtime dependency on libvdpau (appears in ldd output or NEEDED entries)
You are affected if libvdpau version 1.1.0 or earlier is installed AND a setuid/setgid application loads the library AND the trace functionality (VDPAU_TRACE) is or can be enabled.
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 dataUpdate libvdpau to version 1.1.1 or later. Avoid using the trace functionality in setuid or setgid applications, or ensure the library is not loaded by such privileged applications unless absolutely necessary.
Fix this in Ubuntu Linux
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation1.0 h
- Testing3.0 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 $2,224.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2015-5200 — 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-2015-5200 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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- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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