CVE-2015-8325

The do_setup_env function in session.c in sshd in OpenSSH through 7.2p2, when the UseLogin feature is enabled and PAM is configured to read .pam_environment files in user home directories, allows local users to gain privileges by triggering a crafted environment for the /bin/login program, as demonstrated by an LD_PRELOAD environment variable.

Published: 2016-04-30 Last update: 2026-06-16 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]

Conclusion & alert: CVE-2015-8325 is rated Moderate Risk (47.5/100): CVSS High severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.63%). Mandatory action: Review affected assets and schedule remediation.

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-2015-8325

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 0.11% 0.63% +0.52%
2 2026-03-04 0.18% 0.11% -0.07%
3 2026-03-01 0.18%

Full EPSS history (22 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2015-8325

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
7.8 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:L)
They already need access on the box, or another person has to do something wrong; it’s not a remote drive-by.
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:L)
A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
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:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
1.8 5.9 134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0
7.8 3.0 HIGH
CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:L)
They already need access on the box, or another person has to do something wrong; it’s not a remote drive-by.
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:L)
A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
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:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
1.8 5.9 [email protected]
7.2 2.0 HIGH
AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C Click to expand
Access vector (AV:L)
Requires local access to the target system.
Access complexity (AC:L)
Exploitation conditions are straightforward and predictable.
Authentication (AU:N)
No authentication is required.
Confidentiality impact (C:C)
Complete confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:C)
Complete integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:C)
Complete availability impact.
3.9 10.0 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2015-8325

OS Trackers for CVE-2015-8325

vendor priority summary link
debian not yet assigned CVE-2015-8325 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 1 source packages (openssh), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 5. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2015-8325
gentoo normal CVE-2015-8325: 1 GLSA(s) (201612-18), 1 atom(s) (net-misc/openssh); latest impact normal. https://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?quicksearch=CVE-2015-8325
redhat medium https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2015-8325
suse medium CVE-2015-8325 severity moderate: SUSE including 354 source package names (amazon/suse-sles-15-sp1-chost-byos-v20210304-hvm-ssd-x86_64, amazon/suse-sles-15-sp1-chost-byos-v20220127-hvm-ssd-x86_64, …), 458 product×package rows across 67 product lines (HPE Helion OpenStack 8, SUSE Liberty Linux 7, … (67 product lines)): Fixed 266, Known Affected 157, Known Not Affected 35. https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2015-8325/
ubuntu low CVE-2015-8325 low priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (openssh), 7 status rows across 7 suites (precise, trusty, upstream, wily, xenial, yakkety, zesty): released 4, not-affected 3. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2015-8325

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2015-8325

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
debian debian_linux 7.0 cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:7.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
debian debian_linux 8.0 cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:8.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
openbsd openssh <= 7.2 cpe:2.3:a:openbsd:openssh:*:p2:*:*:*:*:*:*
canonical ubuntu_core 15.04 cpe:2.3:o:canonical:ubuntu_core:15.04:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
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 15.10 cpe:2.3:o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:15.10:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
canonical ubuntu_touch 15.04 cpe:2.3:o:canonical:ubuntu_touch:15.04:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2015-8325

cvelogic Threat Intelligence