CVE-2015-8921

The ae_strtofflags function in archive_entry.c in libarchive before 3.2.0 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (out-of-bounds read) via a crafted mtree file.

Published: 2016-09-20 Last update: 2026-05-06 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2015-8921 is rated Moderate Risk (60.4/100): CVSS High severity, with medium exploitation likelihood (EPSS 4.25%). 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-2015-8921

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 2026-05-13 5.00% 4.25% -0.75%
2 2026-01-14 4.32% 5.00% +0.69%
3 2025-12-28 — 4.32% —

Full EPSS history (18 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2015-8921

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-2015-8921

OS Trackers for CVE-2015-8921

vendor priority summary link
debian not yet assigned CVE-2015-8921 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 1 source packages (libarchive), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 5. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2015-8921
gentoo normal CVE-2015-8921: 1 GLSA(s) (201701-03), 1 atom(s) (app-arch/libarchive); latest impact normal. https://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?quicksearch=CVE-2015-8921
redhat low — https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2015-8921
suse medium CVE-2015-8921 severity moderate: SUSE including 11 source package names (bsdcpio-3.1.2-10.el7_2, bsdtar-3.1.2-10.el7_2, …), 34 product×package rows across 31 product lines (SUSE Liberty Linux 7, SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 12 SP1, … (31 product lines)): Fixed 34. https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2015-8921/
ubuntu medium CVE-2015-8921 medium priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (libarchive), 5 status rows across 5 suites (precise, trusty, upstream, wily, xenial): released 5. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2015-8921

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2015-8921

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
novell suse_linux_enterprise_software_development_kit 12.0 cpe:2.3:a:novell:suse_linux_enterprise_software_development_kit:12.0:sp1:*:*:*:*:*:*
novell suse_linux_enterprise_desktop 12.0 cpe:2.3:o:novell:suse_linux_enterprise_desktop:12.0:sp1:*:*:*:*:*:*
novell suse_linux_enterprise_server 12.0 cpe:2.3:o:novell:suse_linux_enterprise_server:12.0:sp1:*:*:*:*:*:*
libarchive libarchive <= 3.1.901a cpe:2.3:a:libarchive:libarchive:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
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_linux 16.04 cpe:2.3:o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:16.04:*:*:*:lts:*:*:*

References for CVE-2015-8921

cvelogic Threat Intelligence