Ubuntu LinuxOperating system · Canonical
CVE-2015-8916
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 · uneditedbsdtar in libarchive before 3.2.0 returns a success code without filling the entry when the header is a "split file in multivolume RAR," which allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (NULL pointer dereference and crash) via a crafted rar file.
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 confidencebsdtar in libarchive before 3.2.0 incorrectly handles split files in multivolume RAR archives by returning a success exit code without properly initializing/filling the archive entry structure. When the code subsequently attempts to access this unfilled entry, it triggers a NULL pointer dereference, causing a denial of service (crash).
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= 15.10= 16.04
Debian LinuxOperating system
= 7.0= 8.0<= 3.1.901aCVSS 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
- Required
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- None
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/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 bsdtar is installedRun 'which bsdtar' or check your package manager (dpkg -l | grep libarchive or apt list --installed | grep libarchive)Affected if bsdtar is not found on the system - the vulnerability cannot be triggered
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Determine the installed libarchive versionRun 'bsdtar --version' to see the bsdtar/libarchive version number, or use 'dpkg -l libarchive' on Debian/Ubuntu systemsAffected if The version shown is less than 3.2.0 (such as 3.1.x or 3.0.x, or any version <= 3.1.901a)
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Confirm RAR support is present in bsdtarRun 'bsdtar --help' and look for RAR in the supported formats list, or test with 'bsdtar -tf sample.rar' on a RAR fileAffected if bsdtar lists RAR support or successfully lists contents of a RAR archive - the vulnerable code path is present
The system is affected if bsdtar is installed with a libarchive version below 3.2.0 (or <= 3.1.901a) AND RAR format support is enabled, because the vulnerable multivolume RAR handling code will be exercised when processing split RAR archives.
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 libarchive to version 3.2.0 or later to receive the patch that properly handles multivolume RAR split file headers. Avoid processing untrusted RAR files with vulnerable versions of bsdtar until upgrade is complete.
Fix this in Ubuntu 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-2015-8916 — 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-2015-8916 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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