# CVE-2015-8790: Information disclosure in n/a

> Attackers can read sensitive heap memory via crafted UTF-8 strings in libEBML, potentially exposing private data.

- **Severity:** Medium 4.3 (`CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** A user has to click or open something
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 29 Jan 2016
- **Updated:** 6 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** CVE-2016-1514, DEBIAN-CVE-2015-8790, GHSA-jhvm-j3gg-ph57, UBUNTU-CVE-2015-8790

## What is CVE-2015-8790?

CVE-2015-8790 is a medium-severity vulnerability in n/a, published on 29 Jan 2016. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.

### Official description

The EbmlUnicodeString::UpdateFromUTF8 function in libEBML before 1.3.3 allows context-dependent attackers to obtain sensitive information from process heap memory via a crafted UTF-8 string, which triggers an invalid memory access.

Weakness: CWE-200 (Exposure of Sensitive Information to an Unauthorized Actor)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2015-8790?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Matroska Libebml.

## How do I fix CVE-2015-8790?

Upgrade to a fixed version.

## Is CVE-2015-8790 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2015-8790 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in n/a

- [CVE-2015-8789](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2015-8789/): Use after free in n/a (critical 9.6)
- [CVE-2023-52339](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-52339/): Integer overflow in n/a (medium 6.5)
- [CVE-2015-8791](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2015-8791/): Information disclosure in n/a (medium 4.3)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2015-8790 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2015-8790 is a medium-severity vulnerability in n/a, published on 29 Jan 2016. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2015-8790 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-2015-8790/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2015-8790/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2015-8790
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2015-8790
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2015-8790

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2015-8790/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.