# CVE-2015-3218: Null dereference in n/a

> Local attackers can crash the polkitd daemon via a NULL pointer dereference in the authentication agent registration process.

- **Severity:** Low 2.1 (`AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:P`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 26 Oct 2015
- **Updated:** 6 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2015-3218, GHSA-q9cc-g5q2-4hhx, UBUNTU-CVE-2015-3218

## What is CVE-2015-3218?

CVE-2015-3218 is a low-severity vulnerability in n/a, published on 26 Oct 2015. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

The authentication_agent_new function in polkitbackend/polkitbackendinteractiveauthority.c in PolicyKit (aka polkit) before 0.113 allows local users to cause a denial of service (NULL pointer dereference and polkitd daemon crash) by calling RegisterAuthenticationAgent with an invalid object path.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2015-3218?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Polkit Project Polkit.

## How do I fix CVE-2015-3218?

Upgrade to a fixed version.

## Is CVE-2015-3218 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2015-3218 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in n/a

- [CVE-2015-3255](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2015-3255/): Privilege escalation in n/a (medium 4.6)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2015-3218 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2015-3218 is a low-severity vulnerability in n/a, published on 26 Oct 2015. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2015-3218 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: n/a. 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-2015-3218/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2015-3218/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2015-3218
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2015-3218
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2015-3218

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2015-3218/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.