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Fencer Intel
high 8.8

CVE-2014-6278 kev in the critical feed json

GNU Bash through 4.3 bash43-026 does not properly parse function definitions in the values of environment variables, which allows remote at…

published 12y ago modified 4mo ago also EUVD-2014-6163

cvss
8.8
version 3.1, CNA
cisa kev
Exploited
added 2025-10-02
epss
99.7%
EPSS 99.7% chance of exploitation in 30 days, percentile 99.9%
public exploits
8
Metasploit and Exploit-DB

Summary

GNU Bash through 4.3 bash43-026 does not properly parse function definitions in the values of environment variables, which allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary commands via a crafted environment, as demonstrated by vectors involving the ForceCommand feature in OpenSSH sshd, the mod_cgi and mod_cgid modules in the Apache HTTP Server, scripts executed by unspecified DHCP clients, and other situations in which setting the environment occurs across a privilege boundary from Bash execution. NOTE: this vulnerability exists because of an incomplete fix for CVE-2014-6271, CVE-2014-7169, and CVE-2014-6277.

Patch / fix

cisa required action Apply mitigations per vendor instructions, follow applicable BOD 22-01 guidance for cloud services, or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable.

  • bash Debian 14, Debian 13, Debian 12 4.3-9.2

debian advisories DEBIAN-CVE-2014-6278

  • bash Ubuntu 14.04 LTS 4.3-7ubuntu1.5

ubuntu advisories UBUNTU-CVE-2014-6278

Ubuntu security data © Canonical Ltd., from https://github.com/canonical/ubuntu-security-notices via OSV; changed: normalised to fixed package versions per release. CC BY-SA 4.0

  • bash SLES for SAP 12 SP1, SLES 12 SP1, SLED 12 SP1 +2 more 4.2-82.1

suse advisories SUSE-SU-2016:2872-1

  • bash openSUSE Tumbleweed 7.0-92.1

opensuse advisories openSUSE-SU-2024:10106-1

Is CVE-2014-6278 in your stack? Fencer shows which of your repositories are affected as soon as an advisory lands, and opens the fix as a pull request.

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Vendor advisories

What the vendors themselves say about their products: affected, fixed or not affected, and what to do.

red hat product security vex CVE-2014-6278 updated cvss 7.5

bash: incorrect parsing of function definitions with nested command substitutions

  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 bash Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 bash Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 bash Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 bash
    not affected: vulnerable code not present

Red Hat CSAF VEX © Red Hat, Inc., from https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/; changed: reduced to product statuses and remediations. CC BY 4.0 · csaf

Timeline

  1. First public exploit (Metasploit auxiliary/scanner/http/apache_mod_cgi_bash_env)
  2. Published
  3. Added to CISA KEV
  4. CISA SSVC: exploitation active
  5. CISA patch deadline

Known exploited

Added
last yr.
Patch by
2025-10-23 (last yr.)
Ransomware
Not known
Required action
Apply mitigations per vendor instructions, follow applicable BOD 22-01 guidance for cloud services, or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable.
Vendor, product
GNU, GNU Bash
CISA name
GNU Bash OS Command Injection Vulnerability

CISA SSVC

Exploitation
Active, exploited in the wild
Automatable
no
Technical impact
total
Assessed
last yr.

Exploit prediction

99.74% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 99.9% of all scored CVEs (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-09).

Exploits and checks

CVSS scores

assigned by version score vector
CISA ADP 3.1 8.8 CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
CNA 3.1 8.8 CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
NVD 2.0 10.0 AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C

Classification

Weakness
  • CWE-78 Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an OS Command

References

Sources

Fencer Intel keeps one entry per vulnerability: the CVE id wins, then GHSA, and records that alias each other are merged, except that two CVEs always keep separate entries. The same data is available as JSON.