Ubuntu LinuxOperating system · Canonical
CVE-2015-8922
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 · uneditedThe read_CodersInfo function in archive_read_support_format_7zip.c in libarchive before 3.2.0 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (NULL pointer dereference and crash) via a crafted 7z file, related to the _7z_folder struct.
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 confidenceThe read_CodersInfo function in archive_read_support_format_7zip.c in libarchive before 3.2.0 contains a NULL pointer dereference vulnerability when parsing crafted 7z files. The vulnerability is triggered during parsing of the _7z_folder struct, causing the program to crash when attempting to dereference an uninitialized or NULL pointer.
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
LinuxOperating system
= 7<= 3.1.901a= 12.0= 12.0= 12.0CVSS 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
- None
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/AV:L/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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Identify installed libarchive versionRun 'dpkg -l libarchive13' on Debian/Ubuntu, 'rpm -qa | grep libarchive' on RHEL/Oracle, or check the library file version with 'ldd --version' or inspect /usr/lib/libarchive.so*'Affected if The installed version is lower than 3.2.0 or matches <= 3.1.901a from the affected versions list
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Confirm 7zip format support is presentCheck if the 7zip decompression module is enabled by running 'archiveFormats' or checking if 7z files can be extracted using the '7z l' command with the libarchive-based toolAffected if 7zip support is available and the library can process 7z files
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Locate the vulnerable source fileSearch for archive_read_support_format_7zip.c in the installed libarchive source or headers, typically found in /usr/include or the source packageAffected if The file exists and its read_CodersInfo function is present, indicating the vulnerable code path exists
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Verify application linkage to libarchiveIdentify applications using libarchive with 'ldd /path/to/application | grep archive' or check services that handle 7z file uploads or processingAffected if Any application or service is linked against the affected libarchive version and processes 7z files
A user is affected if their system has libarchive version 3.1.901a or earlier installed AND applications using libarchive to process 7z files are in use, as the NULL pointer dereference only triggers when parsing crafted 7z files.
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 obtain the fix for this NULL pointer dereference vulnerability. Additionally, implement validation for 7z file parsing to prevent processing of malformed files.
Fix this in Ubuntu Linux
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation1.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing4.0 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 $2,144.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2015-8922 — 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-2015-8922 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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