coreutils: possible buffer overflow in keycompare_mb()
Published Jan 24, 2020
9.8
CRITICALCVSS 3.1
EPSS 2.30%
Description
Integer overflow in the keycompare_mb function in sort.c in sort in GNU Coreutils through 8.23 might allow attackers to cause a denial of service (application crash) or possibly have unspecified other impact via long strings.
Affected products
No data.
No data.
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5
coreutils
Not affected
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6
coreutils
Affected
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7
coreutils
Affected
| Product | Package | State | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 | coreutils | Not affected | n/a |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 | coreutils | Affected | n/a |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 | coreutils | Affected | n/a |
No package ranges for this CVE.
Remediation
Red Hat mitigation
This flaw is triggered by using sort on specially crafted malicious data file. When using sort with trusted inputs, this flaw cannot be triggered.
Metrics
No CVSS v4.0 score for this CVE.
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
No CVSS v3.0 score for this CVE.
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P
This CVE is not in the KEV list.
No CISA SSVC assessment for this CVE yet.
Estimated probability of exploitation in the wild in the next 30 days (FIRST EPSS). As of Oct 1, 2026.
Score over time
2022–2026- EPSS v2
- EPSS v3
- EPSS v4
- EPSS v5
Percentile over time
- EPSS v2
- EPSS v3
- EPSS v4
- EPSS v5
Table of values (11 key points)
Flat stretches are collapsed; showing up to 120 newest points.
| Date | Score | Percentile | Model |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 1, 2026 | 2.30% (0.02304) | 82.71th | v5 (v2026.06.15) |
| Jun 15, 2026 | 2.32% (0.02323) | 81.19th | v5 (v2026.06.15) |
| Mar 17, 2025 | 0.39% (0.00391) | 58.10th | v4 (v2025.03.14) |
| Dec 12, 2024 | 0.37% (0.00369) | 73.42th | v3 (v2023.03.01) |
| Feb 8, 2024 | 0.37% (0.00369) | 71.78th | v3 (v2023.03.01) |
| May 8, 2023 | 0.37% (0.00369) | 68.39th | v3 (v2023.03.01) |
| Mar 7, 2023 | 0.40% (0.00404) | 69.62th | v3 (v2023.03.01) |
| Mar 6, 2023 | 0.89% (0.00885) | 27.89th | v2 (v2022.01.01) |
| Sep 10, 2022 | 0.89% (0.00885) | 26.24th | v2 (v2022.01.01) |
| Apr 1, 2022 | 0.89% (0.00885) | 24.24th | v2 (v2022.01.01) |
| Feb 4, 2022 | 0.89% (0.00885) | 10.50th | v2 (v2022.01.01) |
References (6)
- http://openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2015/05/15/1 x_refsource_MISCExploitMailing ListPatchThird Party Advisory
- https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2015-4042 Vendor Advisory
- https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1223817 Issue Tracking
- https://github.com/pixelb/coreutils/commit/bea5e36cc876ed627bb5e0eca36fdfaa6465e940 x_refsource_MISCPatchThird Party Advisory
- https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2015-4042
- https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2015-4042
| Link | Providers | Tags |
|---|---|---|
| http://openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2015/05/15/1 | x_refsource_MISCExploitMailing ListPatchThird Party Advisory | |
| https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2015-4042 | Vendor Advisory | |
| https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1223817 | Issue Tracking | |
| https://github.com/pixelb/coreutils/commit/bea5e36cc876ed627bb5e0eca36fdfaa6465e940 | x_refsource_MISCPatchThird Party Advisory | |
| https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2015-4042 | ||
| https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2015-4042 |
Change history (0)
No recorded changes yet.