CVE-2015-3256 Memory corruption in n/a

Medium 4.6 Published 26 Oct 2015 Updated 6 Aug 2024

Local attackers can exploit memory corruption in PolicyKit's JavaScript rule evaluation to crash the daemon or potentially escalate privileges.

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

What is CVE-2015-3256?

CVE-2015-3256 is a medium-severity memory corruption vulnerability in Opensuse Opensuse, 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

PolicyKit (aka polkit) before 0.113 allows local users to cause a denial of service (memory corruption and polkitd daemon crash) and possibly gain privileges via unspecified vectors, related to "javascript rule evaluation."

Weakness: CWE-264

Which versions are affected by CVE-2015-3256?

It affects 2 products.

Linux distribution packages (16)

`polkit` Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::client	All versions	`0:0.112-6.el7_2`
`polkit-debuginfo` Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::client	All versions	`0:0.112-6.el7_2`
`polkit-devel` Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::client	All versions	`0:0.112-6.el7_2`
`polkit-docs` Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::client	All versions	`0:0.112-6.el7_2`
`polkit` Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::computenode	All versions	`0:0.112-6.el7_2`
`polkit-debuginfo` Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::computenode	All versions	`0:0.112-6.el7_2`
`polkit-devel` Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::computenode	All versions	`0:0.112-6.el7_2`
`polkit-docs` Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::computenode	All versions	`0:0.112-6.el7_2`
`polkit` Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::server	All versions	`0:0.112-6.el7_2`
`polkit-debuginfo` Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::server	All versions	`0:0.112-6.el7_2`
`polkit-devel` Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::server	All versions	`0:0.112-6.el7_2`
`polkit-docs` Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::server	All versions	`0:0.112-6.el7_2`
`polkit` Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::workstation	All versions	`0:0.112-6.el7_2`
`polkit-debuginfo` Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::workstation	All versions	`0:0.112-6.el7_2`
`polkit-devel` Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::workstation	All versions	`0:0.112-6.el7_2`
`polkit-docs` Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::workstation	All versions	`0:0.112-6.el7_2`

Products include Opensuse Opensuse, Polkit Project Polkit.

How do I fix CVE-2015-3256?

Upgrade to a fixed version.

Upgrade to the fixed version. Memory-safe languages, compiler hardening and fuzzing prevent most new cases. More about Memory corruption.

Is CVE-2015-3256 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2015-3256 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Public exploit code: 1 proofs of concept on GitHub.

All Opensuse Opensuse vulnerabilities

Sources

Also known as GHSA-779g-mjcq-vffm, RHSA-2016:0189.