# CVE-2014-9671: Null dereference in n/a

> Remote attackers can cause a denial of service via a crafted PCF file, requiring user interaction to open the file.

- **Severity:** Medium 4.3 (`AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:P`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** A user has to click or open something
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 8 Feb 2015
- **Updated:** 6 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2014-9671, GHSA-85hg-37rw-9w7v, SUSE-RU-2015:1021-1, SUSE-RU-2015:1239-1, UBUNTU-CVE-2014-9671

## What is CVE-2014-9671?

CVE-2014-9671 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Canonical Ubuntu Linux, published on 8 Feb 2015. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.

### Official description

Off-by-one error in the pcf_get_properties function in pcf/pcfread.c in FreeType before 2.5.4 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (NULL pointer dereference and application crash) via a crafted PCF file with a 0xffffffff size value that is improperly incremented.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2014-9671?

It affects 11 products.


| Package | Ecosystem | Affected | Fixed in |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `freetype2` | SUSE:Linux Enterprise Desktop 12 | All versions | 2.5.5-7.5.1 |
| `ft2demos` | SUSE:Linux Enterprise Desktop 12 | All versions | 2.5.5-7.5.1 |
| `freetype2` | SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server 12 | All versions | 2.5.5-7.5.1 |
| `ft2demos` | SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server 12 | All versions | 2.5.5-7.5.1 |
| `freetype2` | SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 12 | All versions | 2.5.5-7.5.1 |
| `ft2demos` | SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 12 | All versions | 2.5.5-7.5.1 |
| `freetype2` | SUSE:Linux Enterprise Software Development Kit 12 | All versions | 2.5.5-7.5.1 |

Products: Canonical Ubuntu Linux, Debian Debian Linux, Freetype Freetype, Opensuse Opensuse, Oracle Solaris, Redhat Enterprise Linux Desktop, Redhat Enterprise Linux Hpc Node, Redhat Enterprise Linux Hpc Node Eus, Redhat Enterprise Linux Server, Redhat Enterprise Linux Server Eus, Redhat Enterprise Linux Workstation.

## How do I fix CVE-2014-9671?

Upgrade to a fixed version.

## Is CVE-2014-9671 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2014-9671 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Canonical Ubuntu Linux

- [CVE-2020-11651](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-11651/): SaltStack Salt Authentication Bypass (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2020-7247](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-7247/): OpenSMTPD Remote Code Execution (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2019-16928](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-16928/): Exim Out-of-bounds Write (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2018-6789](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-6789/): Exim Buffer Overflow (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2015-2590](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2015-2590/): Oracle Java SE and Java SE Embedded Remote Code Execution (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2014-9671 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2014-9671 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Canonical Ubuntu Linux, published on 8 Feb 2015. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2014-9671 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Canonical Ubuntu Linux. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2014-9671/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2014-9671/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2014-9671
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2014-9671
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2014-9671

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2014-9671/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.