# CVE-2015-1798: Security feature bypass in n/a

> Man-in-the-middle attackers can spoof NTP packets by omitting the MAC field, bypassing symmetric-key authentication checks in the NTP daemon.

- **Severity:** Low 1.8 (`AV:A/AC:H/Au:N/C:N/I:P/A:N`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 8 Apr 2015
- **Updated:** 6 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2015-1798, GHSA-cx2f-jc4r-m5vp, UBUNTU-CVE-2015-1798

## What is CVE-2015-1798?

CVE-2015-1798 is a low-severity vulnerability in Ntp Ntp, published on 8 Apr 2015. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

The symmetric-key feature in the receive function in ntp_proto.c in ntpd in NTP 4.x before 4.2.8p2 requires a correct MAC only if the MAC field has a nonzero length, which makes it easier for man-in-the-middle attackers to spoof packets by omitting the MAC.

Weakness: CWE-17

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2015-1798?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Ntp Ntp.

## How do I fix CVE-2015-1798?

Upgrade to a fixed version.

## Is CVE-2015-1798 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2015-1798 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Ntp Ntp

- [CVE-2018-12327](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-12327/): Memory corruption in n/a (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2017-6460](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-6460/): Memory corruption in n/a (high 8.8)
- [CVE-2019-11331](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-11331/): Other in n/a (high 8.1)
- [CVE-2017-6451](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-6451/): Memory corruption in n/a (high 7.8)
- [CVE-2017-6452](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-6452/): Memory corruption in n/a (high 7.8)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2015-1798 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2015-1798 is a low-severity vulnerability in Ntp Ntp, published on 8 Apr 2015. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2015-1798 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Ntp Ntp. 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-2015-1798/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2015-1798/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2015-1798
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2015-1798
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2015-1798

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2015-1798/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.