CVE-2015-9542

add_password in pam_radius_auth.c in pam_radius 1.4.0 does not correctly check the length of the input password, and is vulnerable to a stack-based buffer overflow during memcpy(). An attacker could send a crafted password to an application (loading the pam_radius library) and crash it. Arbitrary code execution might be possible, depending on the application, C library, compiler, and other factors.

Published: 2020-02-24 Last update: 2024-11-21 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2015-9542 is rated Moderate Risk (58.6/100): CVSS High severity, with medium exploitation likelihood (EPSS 1.90%). 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-2015-9542

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 2.28% 1.90% -0.38%
2 2025-12-27 1.89% 2.28% +0.39%
3 2025-10-28 — 1.89% —

Full EPSS history (15 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2015-9542

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
7.5 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/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-2015-9542

OS Trackers for CVE-2015-9542

vendor priority summary link
debian not yet assigned CVE-2015-9542 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 1 source packages (libpam-radius-auth), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 5. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2015-9542
redhat medium — https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2015-9542
suse medium CVE-2015-9542 severity moderate: SUSE including 10 source package names (pam_radius-1.3.16-180.3.1, pam_radius-1.3.16-239.4.1, …), 74 product×package rows across 49 product lines (HPE Helion OpenStack 8, SUSE CaaS Platform 4.0, … (49 product lines)): Fixed 74. https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2015-9542/
ubuntu medium CVE-2015-9542 medium priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (libpam-radius-auth), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bionic, eoan, trusty, upstream, xenial): released 4, needs-triage 1. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2015-9542

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2015-9542

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
freeradius pam_radius 1.4.0 cpe:2.3:a:freeradius:pam_radius:1.4.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
debian debian_linux 8.0 cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:8.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
debian debian_linux 9.0 cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:9.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
canonical ubuntu_linux 12.04 cpe:2.3:o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:12.04:*:*:*:esm:*:*:*
canonical ubuntu_linux 14.04 cpe:2.3:o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:14.04:*:*:*:esm:*:*:*
canonical ubuntu_linux 16.04 cpe:2.3:o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:16.04:*:*:*:lts:*:*:*
canonical ubuntu_linux 18.04 cpe:2.3:o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:18.04:*:*:*:lts:*:*:*
canonical ubuntu_linux 19.10 cpe:2.3:o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:19.10:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2015-9542

cvelogic Threat Intelligence