glibc: Unbounded stack allocation in catopen function
Published Apr 19, 2016
9.8
CRITICALCVSS 3.0
EPSS 6.21%
Description
Stack-based buffer overflow in the catopen function in the GNU C Library (aka glibc or libc6) before 2.23 allows context-dependent attackers to cause a denial of service (application crash) or possibly execute arbitrary code via a long catalog name.
Affected products
No data.
Configuration 1
- 11
- 11
- 11
- 13.2
- 11
- 11
- 12
- 12
- 11
- 11
- 11
- 11
- 12
- 11
- 11
- 12
- 12
- 12
Configuration 2
- 12.04
- 14.04
- 15.10
Configuration 3
- 8.0
Configuration 5
- 23
No data.
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6
glibc-0:2.12-1.209.el6
Fixed · RHSA-2017:0680
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7
glibc-0:2.17-196.el7
Fixed · RHSA-2017:1916
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5
compat-glibc
Will not fix
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5
glibc
Will not fix
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6
compat-glibc
Will not fix
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7
compat-glibc
Will not fix
| Product | Package | State | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 | glibc-0:2.12-1.209.el6 | Fixed | RHSA-2017:0680 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 | glibc-0:2.17-196.el7 | Fixed | RHSA-2017:1916 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 | compat-glibc | Will not fix | n/a |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 | glibc | Will not fix | n/a |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 | compat-glibc | Will not fix | n/a |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 | compat-glibc | Will not fix | n/a |
No package ranges for this CVE.
Remediation
Red Hat mitigation
Do not use applications which call catopen with unbounded strings. The catopen function is rarely used. Typical application usage involves passing a short, constant string to catopen, so most applications are not affect even if they call catopen.
Metrics
No CVSS v4.0 score for this CVE.
No CVSS v3.1 score for this CVE.
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
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 (27 key points)
Flat stretches are collapsed; showing up to 120 newest points.
| Date | Score | Percentile | Model |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 1, 2026 | 6.21% (0.06206) | 93.30th | v5 (v2026.06.15) |
| Jun 15, 2026 | 5.97% (0.05966) | 92.33th | v5 (v2026.06.15) |
| May 13, 2026 | 3.58% (0.03578) | 87.85th | v4 (v2025.03.14) |
| Apr 18, 2026 | 5.69% (0.05694) | 90.42th | v4 (v2025.03.14) |
| Jan 3, 2026 | 9.68% (0.09682) | 92.70th | v4 (v2025.03.14) |
| Dec 28, 2025 | 7.63% (0.07629) | 91.56th | v4 (v2025.03.14) |
| Dec 27, 2025 | 4.97% (0.04971) | 89.38th | v4 (v2025.03.14) |
| Oct 28, 2025 | 7.63% (0.07629) | 91.46th | v4 (v2025.03.14) |
| Oct 27, 2025 | 4.97% (0.04971) | 89.21th | v4 (v2025.03.14) |
| Oct 1, 2025 | 7.63% (0.07629) | 91.55th | v4 (v2025.03.14) |
| Jul 27, 2025 | 4.97% (0.04971) | 89.22th | v4 (v2025.03.14) |
| Jul 26, 2025 | 3.67% (0.03674) | 87.41th | v4 (v2025.03.14) |
| May 21, 2025 | 6.37% (0.06371) | 90.48th | v4 (v2025.03.14) |
| Mar 30, 2025 | 5.29% (0.05294) | 89.05th | v4 (v2025.03.14) |
| Mar 29, 2025 | 15.19% (0.15190) | 91.04th | v4 (v2025.03.14) |
| Mar 17, 2025 | 5.29% (0.05294) | 89.31th | v4 (v2025.03.14) |
| Dec 25, 2024 | 3.27% (0.03272) | 91.09th | v3 (v2023.03.01) |
| May 19, 2024 | 4.88% (0.04878) | 92.74th | v3 (v2023.03.01) |
| Dec 6, 2023 | 4.28% (0.04282) | 91.35th | v3 (v2023.03.01) |
| Jul 21, 2023 | 2.19% (0.02187) | 87.91th | v3 (v2023.03.01) |
| Jun 12, 2023 | 1.91% (0.01906) | 86.82th | v3 (v2023.03.01) |
| May 2, 2023 | 1.69% (0.01691) | 85.88th | v3 (v2023.03.01) |
| Mar 23, 2023 | 1.21% (0.01211) | 83.13th | v3 (v2023.03.01) |
| Mar 7, 2023 | 1.31% (0.01310) | 83.81th | v3 (v2023.03.01) |
| Mar 6, 2023 | 3.74% (0.03740) | 85.11th | v2 (v2022.01.01) |
| Apr 1, 2022 | 3.74% (0.03740) | 83.58th | v2 (v2022.01.01) |
| Feb 4, 2022 | 3.74% (0.03740) | 66.74th | v2 (v2022.01.01) |
References (26)
- http://lists.fedoraproject.org/pipermail/package-announce/2016-May/184626.html vendor-advisoryx_refsource_FEDORA
- http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2016-02/msg00036.html vendor-advisoryx_refsource_SUSE
- http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2016-02/msg00037.html vendor-advisoryx_refsource_SUSE
- http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2016-02/msg00038.html vendor-advisoryx_refsource_SUSE
- http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2016-02/msg00039.html vendor-advisoryx_refsource_SUSE
- http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2016-02/msg00042.html vendor-advisoryx_refsource_SUSE
- http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/154361/Cisco-Device-Hardcoded-Credentials-GNU-glibc-BusyBox.html x_refsource_MISC
- http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2017-0680.html vendor-advisoryx_refsource_REDHAT
- http://seclists.org/fulldisclosure/2019/Sep/7 mailing-listx_refsource_FULLDISC
- http://www.debian.org/security/2016/dsa-3480 vendor-advisoryx_refsource_DEBIAN
- http://www.debian.org/security/2016/dsa-3481 vendor-advisoryx_refsource_DEBIAN
- http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2016/01/19/11 mailing-listx_refsource_MLIST
- http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2016/01/20/1 mailing-listx_refsource_MLIST
- http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/82244 vdb-entryx_refsource_BID
- http://www.ubuntu.com/usn/USN-2985-1 vendor-advisoryx_refsource_UBUNTU
- http://www.ubuntu.com/usn/USN-2985-2 vendor-advisoryx_refsource_UBUNTU
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2017:1916 vendor-advisoryx_refsource_REDHAT
- https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2015-8779 Vendor Advisory
- https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1300312 Issue Tracking
- https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2015-8779
- https://seclists.org/bugtraq/2019/Sep/7 mailing-listx_refsource_BUGTRAQ
- https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/201602-02 vendor-advisoryx_refsource_GENTOO
- https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/201702-11 vendor-advisoryx_refsource_GENTOO
- https://sourceware.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=17905 x_refsource_CONFIRM
- https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2015-8779
- https://www.sourceware.org/ml/libc-alpha/2016-02/msg00502.html mailing-listx_refsource_MLISTVendor Advisory
Change history (0)
No recorded changes yet.