# CVE-2015-8631: Denial of service in n/a

> Remote authenticated users can cause a denial of service via memory consumption in the Kerberos admin server by sending requests with NULL principal names.

- **Severity:** Medium 6.5 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 13 Feb 2016
- **Updated:** 6 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** ALPINE-CVE-2015-8631, DEBIAN-CVE-2015-8631, GHSA-7f2w-w6q2-vgj3, UBUNTU-CVE-2015-8631

## What is CVE-2015-8631?

CVE-2015-8631 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Debian Debian Linux, published on 13 Feb 2016. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

Multiple memory leaks in kadmin/server/server_stubs.c in kadmind in MIT Kerberos 5 (aka krb5) before 1.13.4 and 1.14.x before 1.14.1 allow remote authenticated users to cause a denial of service (memory consumption) via a request specifying a NULL principal name.

Weakness: CWE-772 (Missing Release of Resource after Effective Lifetime)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2015-8631?

It affects 11 products.


Products: Debian Debian Linux, Mit Kerberos 5, Opensuse Leap, Opensuse Opensuse, Oracle Linux, Redhat Enterprise Linux Desktop, Redhat Enterprise Linux Eus, Redhat Enterprise Linux Server, Redhat Enterprise Linux Server Aus, Redhat Enterprise Linux Server Tus, Redhat Enterprise Linux Workstation.

## How do I fix CVE-2015-8631?

Upgrade to a fixed version.

## Is CVE-2015-8631 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2015-8631 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Debian Debian Linux

- [CVE-2015-3306](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2015-3306/): ProFTPD Improper Access Control (critical 10.0, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2025-49113](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-49113/): RoundCube Webmail Deserialization of Untrusted Data (critical 9.9, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2026-24061](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-24061/): GNU InetUtils Argument Injection (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2025-39682](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-39682/): Linux Kernel Improper Check for Unusual or Exceptional Conditions (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2024-9680](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-9680/): Mozilla Firefox Use-After-Free (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2015-8631 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2015-8631 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Debian Debian Linux, published on 13 Feb 2016. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2015-8631 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Debian Debian 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-2015-8631/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2015-8631/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2015-8631
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2015-8631
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2015-8631

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2015-8631/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.