CVE-2014-3956

The sm_close_on_exec function in conf.c in sendmail before 8.14.9 has arguments in the wrong order, and consequently skips setting expected FD_CLOEXEC flags, which allows local users to access unintended high-numbered file descriptors via a custom mail-delivery program.

Published: 2014-06-04 Last update: 2026-05-06 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2014-3956 is rated Low Risk (24.4/100): CVSS Low severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.13%). Monitor for updates and reassess as exploit intelligence or EPSS changes.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2014-3956

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2024-12-17 0.04% 0.13% +0.08%
2 2023-03-07 1.55% 0.04% -1.50%
3 2022-02-04 — 1.55% —

Full EPSS history (3 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2014-3956

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
1.9 2.0 LOW
AV:L/AC:M/Au:N/C:P/I:N/A:N Click to expand
Access vector (AV:L)
Requires local access to the target system.
Access complexity (AC:M)
Exploitation needs some favorable conditions, but not exceptional ones.
Authentication (AU:N)
No authentication is required.
Confidentiality impact (C:P)
Partial confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:N)
No integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:N)
No availability impact.
 3.4 2.9 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2014-3956

OS Trackers for CVE-2014-3956

vendor priority summary link
debian low CVE-2014-3956 low priority: Debian including 1 source packages (sendmail), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 5. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2014-3956
gentoo normal CVE-2014-3956: 1 GLSA(s) (201412-32), 1 atom(s) (mail-mta/sendmail); latest impact normal. https://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?quicksearch=CVE-2014-3956
redhat low — https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2014-3956
ubuntu low CVE-2014-3956 low priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (sendmail), 14 status rows across 14 suites (artful, bionic, cosmic, lucid, precise, saucy, trusty, upstream, utopic, vivid, wily, xenial, yakkety, zesty): not-affected 9, ignored 3, released 2. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2014-3956

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2014-3956

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
freebsd freebsd <= 9.2 cpe:2.3:o:freebsd:freebsd:*:-:*:*:*:*:*:*
hp hpux <= b.11.31 cpe:2.3:a:hp:hpux:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
fedoraproject fedora 20 cpe:2.3:o:fedoraproject:fedora:20:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
sendmail sendmail <= 8.14.8 cpe:2.3:a:sendmail:sendmail:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
sendmail sendmail 8.6.7 cpe:2.3:a:sendmail:sendmail:8.6.7:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
sendmail sendmail 8.7.6 cpe:2.3:a:sendmail:sendmail:8.7.6:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
sendmail sendmail 8.7.7 cpe:2.3:a:sendmail:sendmail:8.7.7:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
sendmail sendmail 8.7.8 cpe:2.3:a:sendmail:sendmail:8.7.8:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
sendmail sendmail 8.7.9 cpe:2.3:a:sendmail:sendmail:8.7.9:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
sendmail sendmail 8.7.10 cpe:2.3:a:sendmail:sendmail:8.7.10:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
sendmail sendmail 8.8.8 cpe:2.3:a:sendmail:sendmail:8.8.8:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
sendmail sendmail 8.9.0 cpe:2.3:a:sendmail:sendmail:8.9.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
sendmail sendmail 8.9.1 cpe:2.3:a:sendmail:sendmail:8.9.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
sendmail sendmail 8.9.2 cpe:2.3:a:sendmail:sendmail:8.9.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
sendmail sendmail 8.9.3 cpe:2.3:a:sendmail:sendmail:8.9.3:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
sendmail sendmail 8.10 cpe:2.3:a:sendmail:sendmail:8.10:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
sendmail sendmail 8.10.0 cpe:2.3:a:sendmail:sendmail:8.10.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
sendmail sendmail 8.10.1 cpe:2.3:a:sendmail:sendmail:8.10.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
sendmail sendmail 8.10.2 cpe:2.3:a:sendmail:sendmail:8.10.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
sendmail sendmail 8.11.0 cpe:2.3:a:sendmail:sendmail:8.11.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
sendmail sendmail 8.11.1 cpe:2.3:a:sendmail:sendmail:8.11.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
sendmail sendmail 8.11.2 cpe:2.3:a:sendmail:sendmail:8.11.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
sendmail sendmail 8.11.3 cpe:2.3:a:sendmail:sendmail:8.11.3:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
sendmail sendmail 8.11.4 cpe:2.3:a:sendmail:sendmail:8.11.4:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
sendmail sendmail 8.11.5 cpe:2.3:a:sendmail:sendmail:8.11.5:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
sendmail sendmail 8.11.6 cpe:2.3:a:sendmail:sendmail:8.11.6:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
sendmail sendmail 8.11.7 cpe:2.3:a:sendmail:sendmail:8.11.7:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
sendmail sendmail 8.12.0 cpe:2.3:a:sendmail:sendmail:8.12.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
sendmail sendmail 8.12.1 cpe:2.3:a:sendmail:sendmail:8.12.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
sendmail sendmail 8.12.2 cpe:2.3:a:sendmail:sendmail:8.12.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
sendmail sendmail 8.12.3 cpe:2.3:a:sendmail:sendmail:8.12.3:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
sendmail sendmail 8.12.4 cpe:2.3:a:sendmail:sendmail:8.12.4:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
sendmail sendmail 8.12.5 cpe:2.3:a:sendmail:sendmail:8.12.5:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
sendmail sendmail 8.12.6 cpe:2.3:a:sendmail:sendmail:8.12.6:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
sendmail sendmail 8.12.7 cpe:2.3:a:sendmail:sendmail:8.12.7:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
sendmail sendmail 8.12.8 cpe:2.3:a:sendmail:sendmail:8.12.8:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
sendmail sendmail 8.12.9 cpe:2.3:a:sendmail:sendmail:8.12.9:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
sendmail sendmail 8.12.10 cpe:2.3:a:sendmail:sendmail:8.12.10:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
sendmail sendmail 8.12.11 cpe:2.3:a:sendmail:sendmail:8.12.11:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
sendmail sendmail 8.13.0 cpe:2.3:a:sendmail:sendmail:8.13.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
sendmail sendmail 8.13.1 cpe:2.3:a:sendmail:sendmail:8.13.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
sendmail sendmail 8.13.2 cpe:2.3:a:sendmail:sendmail:8.13.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
sendmail sendmail 8.13.3 cpe:2.3:a:sendmail:sendmail:8.13.3:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
sendmail sendmail 8.13.4 cpe:2.3:a:sendmail:sendmail:8.13.4:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
sendmail sendmail 8.13.5 cpe:2.3:a:sendmail:sendmail:8.13.5:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
sendmail sendmail 8.13.6 cpe:2.3:a:sendmail:sendmail:8.13.6:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
sendmail sendmail 8.13.7 cpe:2.3:a:sendmail:sendmail:8.13.7:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
sendmail sendmail 8.13.8 cpe:2.3:a:sendmail:sendmail:8.13.8:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
sendmail sendmail 8.14.0 cpe:2.3:a:sendmail:sendmail:8.14.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
sendmail sendmail 8.14.1 cpe:2.3:a:sendmail:sendmail:8.14.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
sendmail sendmail 8.14.2 cpe:2.3:a:sendmail:sendmail:8.14.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
sendmail sendmail 8.14.3 cpe:2.3:a:sendmail:sendmail:8.14.3:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
sendmail sendmail 8.14.4 cpe:2.3:a:sendmail:sendmail:8.14.4:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
sendmail sendmail 8.14.5 cpe:2.3:a:sendmail:sendmail:8.14.5:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
sendmail sendmail 8.14.6 cpe:2.3:a:sendmail:sendmail:8.14.6:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
sendmail sendmail 8.14.7 cpe:2.3:a:sendmail:sendmail:8.14.7:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2014-3956

URL Tags
ftp://ftp.sendmail.org/pub/sendmail/RELEASE_NOTES Vendor Advisory
http://advisories.mageia.org/MGASA-2014-0270.html Third Party Advisory
http://lists.fedoraproject.org/pipermail/package-announce/2014-June/134349.html Third Party Advisory
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-updates/2014-06/msg00032.html
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-updates/2014-06/msg00033.html
http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/126975/Slackware-Security-Advisory-sendmail-Updates.html Third Party Advisory VDB Entry
http://secunia.com/advisories/57455
http://secunia.com/advisories/58628
http://security.gentoo.org/glsa/glsa-201412-32.xml
http://www.freebsd.org/security/advisories/FreeBSD-SA-14%3A11.sendmail.asc
http://www.mandriva.com/security/advisories?name=MDVSA-2014:147
http://www.mandriva.com/security/advisories?name=MDVSA-2015:128
http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/67791 Third Party Advisory VDB Entry
http://www.securitytracker.com/id/1030331 Third Party Advisory VDB Entry
http://www.sendmail.com/sm/open_source/download/8.14.9/ Patch Vendor Advisory
http://www.slackware.com/security/viewer.php?l=slackware-security&y=2014&m=slackware-security.728644
https://h20566.www2.hpe.com/portal/site/hpsc/public/kb/docDisplay?docId=emr_na-c05216368 Third Party Advisory
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