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CVE-2015-1396· NVD / CVE Program· CNA debian

A Directory Traversal vulnerability exists in the GNU patch before 2.7.4.

A Directory Traversal vulnerability exists in the GNU patch before 2.7.4. A remote attacker can write to arbitrary files via a symlink attack in a patch file. NOTE: this issue exists because of an incomplete fix for CVE-2015-1196.

HighCVSS 7.5 · v3.1—No exploit Fix available
Published
Nov 25, 2019
Updated
Jun 16, 2026
EPSS
3.3% · 88th percentile
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Report tools

JSON

Action score

31

Monitor

Low priority for now.

CVSS
30 / 40 · 7.5 / 10
CISA KEV
0 / 30 · Not listed
EPSS
1 / 30 · 3.3%

Affected systems

VendorProduct
gnupatch
debiandebian linux

Affected versions

NVD version ranges (for catalog products). Add the product to your stack with a version and matching uses these.

  • debian debian linux10.0
  • debian debian linux11.0
  • debian debian linux8.0
  • debian debian linux9.0
  • gnu patchbefore 2.7.4

Package-level exposure

OSV and GitHub Advisory data: ecosystem, package and range. SBOM matching uses this table.

EcosystemPackageAffected rangeFix
Debian:12patchbefore 2.7.3-12.7.3-1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Desktop 12patchbefore 2.7.5-7.12.7.5-7.1

Same product

gnu: all records

Other highest-scoring records for the same primary product.

  • CVE-2018-1000156GNU Patch version 2.7.6 contains an input validation vulnerability when processing patch files, specifically the EDITOR_PROGRAM invocation (
    33Monitor
  • CVE-2018-6951An issue was discovered in GNU patch through 2.7.6.
    33Monitor
  • CVE-2015-1395Directory traversal vulnerability in GNU patch versions which support Git-style patching before 2.7.3 allows remote attackers to write to ar
    33Monitor
  • CVE-2018-20969do_ed_script in pch.c in GNU patch through 2.7.6 does not block strings beginning with a ! character.
    32Monitor
  • CVE-2019-13638GNU patch through 2.7.6 is vulnerable to OS shell command injection that can be exploited by opening a crafted patch file that contains an e
    32Monitor
  • CVE-2018-6952A double free exists in the another_hunk function in pch.c in GNU patch through 2.7.6.
    32Monitor

Remediation

Which version to upgrade to

Fix versions compiled from the vendor, package registries and Microsoft. Verify the vendor's note before upgrading.

Product / packageFixed versionSource
debian:patch2.7.3-1 · Debian:12Package registry (OSV)
suse:patch2.7.5-7.1 · SUSE:Linux Enterprise Desktop 12Package registry (OSV)

Exploit status

No known public exploit

No public exploit has been observed yet. That doesn't mean you're safe, only that the bar is a little higher.

Research context

For pentesters and researchers: attack profile, score disagreement, timeline, patch commits, credits, variant and chain candidates, bug bounty scope. All derived from existing data; no exploit code.

Timeline

From publication to today: proof of concept, Metasploit module, CISA KEV and fix record. Dates are as reported by the sources.

No dated events beyond publication.

EPSS, last 120 days

FIRST EPSS daily score; only changes of 0.01 or more are recorded (step chart).

Patch and commit links

Commit, PR and diff links among the references. A starting point for patch-diffing and variant hunting; fixes, not exploits.

No commit or PR link among the references.

Credits

All researchers

Finders, reporters and analysts named in the CNA record. Click a name for that researcher’s other records.

No credits in the CNA record.

Variant candidates

Same product, same weakness class, within 18 months. If the patch missed the root cause, the sibling bug is here.

No nightly-computed relations.

Chain candidates

An authentication bypass and a privilege-requiring bug in the same product, published close together: combined they may become an unauthenticated path.

—

Bug bounty scope

No known public program.

Source: bounty-targets-data (public HackerOne, Bugcrowd, Intigriti, YesWeHack listings).

Technical details

Attack conditions

  • Anyone who can reach it over the internet can trigger it.
  • No account or password is required.
  • No user action is required.
  • No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.

If successful

Confidentiality
none
Integrity
high · data or configuration can be modified
Availability
none
Attack vector
Network
Attack complexity
Low
Privileges required
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality impact
None
Integrity impact
High
Availability impact
None

Weakness class (CWE)

CWE-22 · Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal')

CVSS vector

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N

nvd-primary

Root cause

A user-supplied file name is joined with the allowed directory, but the result is never checked to confirm it is still inside that directory.

The bug in code

The whole CWE-22 class

A representative example of this vulnerability class. Not the vendor's source code; it shows the faulty pattern and its fix.

Vulnerable

ts
const file = path.join(ROOT, req.query.name);res.sendFile(file);

Fixed

ts
const file = path.resolve(ROOT, req.query.name);if (!file.startsWith(ROOT + path.sep)) {  return res.sendStatus(400);}res.sendFile(file);

Attack context

MITRE CAPEC attack patterns and ATT&CK techniques for this weakness class (CWE). A starting point for detection rules and threat hunting.

ATT&CK techniques

—

Noroxi analysis

No Noroxi analysis for this record yet

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Change log

  1. Fix✗ → ✓

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References

Vendor advisories and official records. Exploit/PoC links are deliberately left out.

All records