CVE-2015-4604

Exp

The mget function in softmagic.c in file 5.x, as used in the Fileinfo component in PHP before 5.4.40, 5.5.x before 5.5.24, and 5.6.x before 5.6.8, does not properly maintain a certain pointer relationship, which allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (application crash) or possibly execute arbitrary code via a crafted string that is mishandled by a "Python script text executable" rule.

Published: 2016-05-16 Last update: 2026-05-06 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]

Conclusion & alert: CVE-2015-4604 is rated High Exploit Risk (81.9/100): CVSS High severity, with high exploitation likelihood (EPSS 9.11%, 92th percentile). Core evidence: 1 public exploit reference(s) are indexed (Exploit-DB). EPSS rose +4.52% over the last day, indicating growing attacker interest. Mandatory action: Public exploits are available—assess exposure, apply mitigations, and prioritize patching.

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

Public exploit references (Exploit-DB) for CVE-2015-4604

EDB-ID Source Kind Published Link
nvd_ref exploit_tag Exploit-DB ↗

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2015-4604

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 2025-12-28 4.58% 9.11% +4.52%
2 2025-12-27 9.11% 4.58% -4.52%
3 2025-10-28 9.11%

Full EPSS history (18 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2015-4604

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
7.5 3.0 HIGH
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:N)
No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:N)
Doesn’t really leak secrets in a meaningful way.
Integrity (I:N)
Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
3.9 3.6 [email protected]
5.0 2.0 MEDIUM
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:P Click to expand
Access vector (AV:N)
Can be exploited remotely over network reachability.
Access complexity (AC:L)
Exploitation conditions are straightforward and predictable.
Authentication (AU:N)
No authentication is required.
Confidentiality impact (C:N)
No confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:N)
No integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:P)
Partial availability impact.
10.0 2.9 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2015-4604

OS Trackers for CVE-2015-4604

vendor priority summary link
debian unimportant CVE-2015-4604 unimportant 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-2015-4604
redhat medium https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2015-4604
ubuntu low CVE-2015-4604 low priority: Ubuntu including 2 source packages (file, php5), 14 status rows across 7 suites (precise, trusty, upstream, utopic, vivid, wily, xenial): not-affected 7, released 3, ignored 2, DNE 1, needs-triage 1. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2015-4604

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2015-4604

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
php php <= 5.4.39 cpe:2.3:a:php:php:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
php php 5.5.0 cpe:2.3:a:php:php:5.5.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
php php 5.5.1 cpe:2.3:a:php:php:5.5.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
php php 5.5.2 cpe:2.3:a:php:php:5.5.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
php php 5.5.3 cpe:2.3:a:php:php:5.5.3:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
php php 5.5.4 cpe:2.3:a:php:php:5.5.4:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
php php 5.5.5 cpe:2.3:a:php:php:5.5.5:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
php php 5.5.6 cpe:2.3:a:php:php:5.5.6:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
php php 5.5.7 cpe:2.3:a:php:php:5.5.7:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
php php 5.5.8 cpe:2.3:a:php:php:5.5.8:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
php php 5.5.9 cpe:2.3:a:php:php:5.5.9:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
php php 5.5.10 cpe:2.3:a:php:php:5.5.10:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
php php 5.5.11 cpe:2.3:a:php:php:5.5.11:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
php php 5.5.12 cpe:2.3:a:php:php:5.5.12:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
php php 5.5.13 cpe:2.3:a:php:php:5.5.13:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
php php 5.5.14 cpe:2.3:a:php:php:5.5.14:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
php php 5.5.15 cpe:2.3:a:php:php:5.5.15:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
php php 5.5.16 cpe:2.3:a:php:php:5.5.16:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
php php 5.5.17 cpe:2.3:a:php:php:5.5.17:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
php php 5.5.18 cpe:2.3:a:php:php:5.5.18:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
php php 5.5.19 cpe:2.3:a:php:php:5.5.19:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
php php 5.5.20 cpe:2.3:a:php:php:5.5.20:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
php php 5.5.21 cpe:2.3:a:php:php:5.5.21:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
php php 5.5.22 cpe:2.3:a:php:php:5.5.22:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
php php 5.5.23 cpe:2.3:a:php:php:5.5.23:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
php php 5.6.0 cpe:2.3:a:php:php:5.6.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
php php 5.6.1 cpe:2.3:a:php:php:5.6.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
php php 5.6.2 cpe:2.3:a:php:php:5.6.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
php php 5.6.3 cpe:2.3:a:php:php:5.6.3:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
php php 5.6.4 cpe:2.3:a:php:php:5.6.4:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
php php 5.6.5 cpe:2.3:a:php:php:5.6.5:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
php php 5.6.6 cpe:2.3:a:php:php:5.6.6:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
php php 5.6.7 cpe:2.3:a:php:php:5.6.7:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux_desktop 7.0 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux_desktop:7.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux_hpc_node 7.0 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux_hpc_node:7.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux_hpc_node_eus 7.1 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux_hpc_node_eus:7.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux_server 7.0 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux_server:7.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux_server_eus 7.1 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux_server_eus:7.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux_workstation 7.0 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux_workstation:7.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux 6.0 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux:6.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux 7.0 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux:7.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2015-4604

cvelogic Threat Intelligence