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PHPApplication

CVE-2015-8880

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2016-05-22
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

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 · unedited
Double free vulnerability in the format printer in PHP 7.x before 7.0.1 allows remote attackers to have an unspecified impact by triggering an error.

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 confidence

A double-free vulnerability exists in PHP 7.x before 7.0.1 in the format printer (printf/sprintf family functions). When an error condition is triggered during format string processing, memory is freed twice, leading to heap corruption that can potentially be exploited for remote code execution.

MitigationUpgrade PHP to version 7.0.1 or later to patch the double-free vulnerability in the format printer. Prior to upgrading in production, test all applications that use printf-style functions to ensure compatibility with the patched version.

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
PHPApplication
Affected:= 7.0.0

CVSS 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
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Check installed PHP version
    Run 'php -v' from command line or use 'phpinfo()' in a script to retrieve the PHP version number
    Affected if The version is exactly 7.0.0 (or any version before 7.0.1 in the 7.x branch if that interpretation applies)
  2. Identify use of printf/sprintf family functions
    Search PHP codebase for occurrences of printf, sprintf, fprintf, vprintf, vsprintf, vfprintf, or snprintf function calls
    Affected if Any of these functions are used in the application code
  3. Check for format string vulnerabilities
    Review the format string arguments passed to printf-family functions - look for cases where user input or variable data is used directly as the format string instead of as arguments
    Affected if User-controllable data is passed directly as the first argument to printf-family functions without proper sanitization
  4. Test error conditions during format processing
    If the application uses printf-family functions, deliberately trigger error conditions (such as passing invalid format specifiers, mismatched argument types, or insufficient arguments) during runtime to observe behavior
    Affected if Errors during format string processing cause unexpected behavior or crashes, indicating potential double-free trigger conditions

You are affected if you are running PHP version 7.0.0 and your application uses printf/sprintf family functions with format strings that can trigger error conditions.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

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.

dbcve · scoped
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Upgrade PHP to version 7.0.1 or later to patch the double-free vulnerability in the format printer. Prior to upgrading in production, test all applications that use printf-style functions to ensure compatibility with the patched version.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

PHP 7.0.1 or later (recommended: latest stable 7.0.x)

  1. Download and install PHP 7.0.1 or later (preferably the latest stable 7.0.x release)
  2. Restart any PHP-FPM, Apache, or Nginx processes that are running the affected PHP version
  3. Verify the new PHP version is active by running 'php -v'
  4. Test that critical applications function correctly with the new PHP version
Caveat Minor changes between 7.0.0 and 7.0.1; review the PHP 7.0.1 changelog for any specific migration notes

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in PHP Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing12.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
28.0 hours of engineering $4,760
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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2015-8880 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

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.

What belongs here
  • 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