CVE-2015-8107
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 · uneditedFormat string vulnerability in GNU a2ps 4.14 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code.
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 confidenceA format string vulnerability exists in GNU a2ps version 4.14. The vulnerability allows remote attackers to inject format string specifiers into user-controlled input, which is then passed unsanitized to format string functions. This can enable arbitrary code execution by overwriting memory locations via format specifiers like %n.
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= 4.14CVSS 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
- Low
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- Required
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
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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Verify a2ps is installedRun 'which a2ps' or 'dpkg -l | grep a2ps' (Debian) / 'rpm -qa | grep a2ps' (RHEL) to see if the a2ps binary is present on the systemAffected if a2ps binary exists on the system
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Determine installed versionRun 'a2ps --version' or 'a2ps -V' to obtain the exact version numberAffected if Version displayed is 4.14
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Check if a2ps is exposed to untrusted inputReview how a2ps is invoked: check for CGI scripts, system calls from web applications, or network-facing services that pass user data to a2ps; examine /etc/a2ps.cfg and any custom configuration files for input handling settingsAffected if a2ps processes user-supplied filenames, text content, or parameters without sanitization
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Inspect for format string vulnerable code pathsIf source is available, search for format string function calls (printf, fprintf, sprintf, snprintf) where user input could be passed as the format string argument; check if input from stdin, files, or command-line arguments flows directly to these functionsAffected if User-controlled input reaches format string functions without intermediate sanitization
System is affected if GNU a2ps version 4.14 is installed AND it processes untrusted input through format string functions without sanitization of format specifiers like %n, %s, %x.
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 a patched version of GNU a2ps if available; otherwise, implement input validation to sanitize or reject format string specifiers (%$, %n, %s, %x, etc.) from user-supplied data before passing it to format string functions.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing3.0 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 $2,800.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2015-8107 — 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-2015-8107 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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