# CVE-2015-8777: Security feature bypass in n/a

> Local attackers can bypass pointer-guarding protections in glibc by setting a specific environment variable, undermining memory safety mechanisms.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.5 (`CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N`)
- **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:** 20 Jan 2016
- **Updated:** 6 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2015-8777, GHSA-2gq8-953m-fqr3, UBUNTU-CVE-2015-8777

## What is CVE-2015-8777?

CVE-2015-8777 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Gnu Glibc, published on 20 Jan 2016. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

The process_envvars function in elf/rtld.c in the GNU C Library (aka glibc or libc6) before 2.23 allows local users to bypass a pointer-guarding protection mechanism via a zero value of the LD_POINTER_GUARD environment variable.

Weakness: CWE-254

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2015-8777?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Gnu Glibc.

## How do I fix CVE-2015-8777?

Upgrade to a fixed version.

## Is CVE-2015-8777 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2015-8777 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Gnu Glibc

- [CVE-2026-5450](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-5450/): scanf %mc off-by-one heap buffer overflow (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2023-25139](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-25139/): Memory corruption in n/a (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-1999-0199](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-1999-0199/): Other in n/a (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2019-1010022](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-1010022/): Security feature bypass in glibc (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2005-3590](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2005-3590/): Memory corruption in n/a (critical 9.8)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2015-8777 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2015-8777 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Gnu Glibc, published on 20 Jan 2016. 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-2015-8777 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Gnu Glibc. 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-2015-8777/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2015-8777/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2015-8777
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2015-8777
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2015-8777

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2015-8777/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.