CVE-2015-7909
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 · uneditedStack-based buffer overflow in Hospira Communication Engine (CE) before 1.2 in LifeCare PCA Infusion System 5.07, Plum A+ Infusion System 13.40, and Plum A+3 Infusion System 13.40 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service or possibly have unspecified other impact via traffic on TCP port 5000.
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 confidenceStack-based buffer overflow vulnerability in Hospira Communication Engine (CE) versions prior to 1.2 allows remote attackers to send malicious traffic on TCP port 5000, potentially causing denial of service or arbitrary code execution in LifeCare PCA Infusion System 5.07, Plum A+ Infusion System 13.40, and Plum A+3 Infusion System 13.40.
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<= 1.0= 5.0.7CVSS 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
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- Low
- Integrity
- Low
- Availability
- Low
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:L
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 Hospira Communication Engine installationCheck system for Hospira Communication Engine software installation. Look for processes named 'HCE', 'HospiraCE', or related service processes on the system. On Windows, check Add/Remove Programs or the installation directory (commonly C:\Program Files\Hospira\). On Linux/Unix, check /opt/hospira/ or similar directories.Affected if Hospira Communication Engine is installed and running on the system
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Determine installed version of Hospira Communication EngineLocate the version information for the installed Hospira Communication Engine. Check the About dialog, version file, or executable properties. Common locations: executable metadata, version.txt in install folder, or Windows registry under HKLM\Software\Hospira\CommunicationEngine.Affected if Installed version is prior to 1.2 (versions 1.0 or earlier, or any version below 1.2)
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Verify TCP port 5000 is listeningCheck if TCP port 5000 is open and listening. Run command: netstat -an | findstr :5000 or ss -tlnp | grep 5000. Also verify with port scanner: nmap -p 5000 <target> or Test-NetConnection -Port 5000 in PowerShell.Affected if TCP port 5000 is open and accepting connections on the affected system
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Confirm infusion system model and versionIf this is an infusion system device, identify the model and firmware version. Check system information, device management console, or clinical engineering documentation. Specific affected models: LifeCare PCA (version 5.07), Plum A+ (version 13.40), Plum A+3 (version 13.40).Affected if Device is a LifeCare PCA Infusion System version 5.07, Plum A+ version 13.40, or Plum A+3 version 13.40, running an affected CE version
System is affected if Hospira Communication Engine version prior to 1.2 is installed and TCP port 5000 is accessible, particularly on LifeCare PCA 5.07, Plum A+ 13.40, or Plum A+3 13.40 infusion systems.
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 Hospira Communication Engine to version 1.2 or later. Additionally, network segmentation and firewall controls should restrict access to TCP port 5000 on affected infusion systems to minimize attack surface.
- Consultation6.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing12.0 h
- Review / QA6.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2015-7909 — 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-2015-7909 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
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data