The ELF parser (readelf.c) in file before 5.21 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (CPU consumption or crash) via a large number of (1) program or (2) section headers or (3) invalid capabilities.
Conclusion & alert: CVE-2014-8116 is rated Moderate Risk (46.5/100): CVSS Medium severity, with high exploitation likelihood (EPSS 4.43%, 90th percentile). Core evidence: EPSS ranks this CVE among the most likely to be exploited in the near term. Mandatory action: High exploitation likelihood—assess exposure and prioritize remediation.
Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.
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 | 2026-06-15 | 15.88% | 4.43% | -11.44% |
| 2 | 2025-12-28 | 9.67% | 15.88% | +6.20% |
| 3 | 2025-12-27 | — | 9.67% | — |
Full EPSS history (16 records total)
CVSS metrics for this CVE.
| Base score | Version | Severity | Vector | Exploitability | Impact | Score source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5.0 | 2.0 | MEDIUM |
|
10.0 | 2.9 | [email protected] |
| vendor | priority | summary | link |
|---|---|---|---|
debian
|
low | CVE-2014-8116 low priority: Debian including 1 source packages (file), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 5. | https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2014-8116 |
redhat
|
medium | — | https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2014-8116 |
suse
|
medium | CVE-2014-8116 severity moderate: SUSE including 337 source package names (0.9.1:file-5.22-10.3.1, 0.9.1:file-magic-5.22-10.3.1, …), 522 product×package rows across 89 product lines (Container caasp/v4/default-http-backend, Container caasp/v4/dnsmasq-nanny, … (89 product lines)): Fixed 357, Known Affected 157, Known Not Affected 8. | https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2014-8116/ |
ubuntu
|
medium | CVE-2014-8116 medium priority: Ubuntu including 2 source packages (file, php5), 10 status rows across 5 suites (lucid, precise, trusty, upstream, utopic): not-affected 4, released 4, needs-triage 2. | https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2014-8116 |
| Vendor | Product | Version | Raw CPE |
|---|---|---|---|
| file_project | file | 5.20 | cpe:2.3:a:file_project:file:5.20:*:*:*:*:*:*:* |
| freebsd | freebsd | — | cpe:2.3:o:freebsd:freebsd:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* |
| mageia | mageia | 4.0 | cpe:2.3:o:mageia:mageia:4.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:* |
| canonical | ubuntu_linux | 10.04 | cpe:2.3:o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:10.04:*:*:*:lts:*:*:* |
| canonical | ubuntu_linux | 12.04 | cpe:2.3:o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:12.04:*:*:*:lts:*:*:* |
| canonical | ubuntu_linux | 14.04 | cpe:2.3:o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:14.04:*:*:*:lts:*:*:* |
| canonical | ubuntu_linux | 14.10 | cpe:2.3:o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:14.10:*:*:*:*:*:*:* |