Debian LinuxOperating system · Debian
CVE-2015-8917
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 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (NULL pointer dereference and crash) via an invalid character in the name of a cab 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 · high confidencebsdtar in libarchive before 3.2.0 contains a NULL pointer dereference vulnerability that can be triggered by a specially crafted CAB file containing an invalid character in the filename, causing the application to crash and resulting in a denial of service.
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
Debian LinuxOperating system
= 7.0= 8.0
Ubuntu LinuxOperating system
= 12.04= 14.04= 15.10= 16.04<= 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
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- None
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/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 'bsdtar --version' to confirm bsdtar is available on the systemAffected if bsdtar is not present on the system
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Identify libarchive versionRun 'bsdtar --version' and examine the output for the libarchive version number, or check the installed package version via 'dpkg -l libarchive' (Debian/Ubuntu)Affected if The libarchive version is 3.1.901a or earlier, or the version cannot be determined but is known to be pre-3.2.0
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Confirm CAB file support is presentRun 'bsdtar --help' and check for 'cab' in the supported archive formats list, or attempt to list a harmless CAB file with 'bsdtar -t -f test.cab'Affected if bsdtar can process CAB files (the vulnerability only applies when processing CAB archives)
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Check if bsdtar is actively used for CAB extractionReview system logs, scripts, or automation that invoke bsdtar to process CAB files, or audit user access to CAB-handling workflowsAffected if bsdtar is used to extract or list contents of CAB files in the environment
A system is affected if it runs bsdtar from libarchive version 3.1.901a or earlier and processes CAB files, as the NULL pointer dereference occurs when handling CAB files with invalid filename characters.
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 patch the NULL pointer dereference vulnerability. Validate and sanitize input files before processing, and consider implementing crash handling to prevent service disruption.
Fix this in Debian Linux
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing6.0 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 $3,808.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2015-8917 — 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-2015-8917 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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- Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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