# CVE-2015-8878: Race condition in n/a

> Remote attackers can cause denial of service via a race condition in PHP's temporary file handling, affecting applications with high temporary file usage.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.9 (`CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 22 May 2016
- **Updated:** 17 Sep 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-5vw7-pjvv-vj46

## What is CVE-2015-8878?

CVE-2015-8878 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Php Php, published on 22 May 2016. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

main/php_open_temporary_file.c in PHP before 5.5.28 and 5.6.x before 5.6.12 does not ensure thread safety, which allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (race condition and heap memory corruption) by leveraging an application that performs many temporary-file accesses.

Weakness: CWE-362 (Concurrent Execution using Shared Resource with Improper Synchronization), CWE-119 (Improper Restriction of Operations within the Bounds of a Memory Buffer)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2015-8878?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Php Php.

## How do I fix CVE-2015-8878?

Upgrade to a fixed version.

## Is CVE-2015-8878 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2015-8878 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Php Php

- [CVE-2012-2688](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2012-2688/): Integer overflow in n/a (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2012-2376](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2012-2376/): Memory corruption in n/a (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2011-3268](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2011-3268/): Memory corruption in n/a (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2009-4143](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2009-4143/): Other in n/a (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2008-5557](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2008-5557/): Memory corruption in n/a (critical 10.0)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2015-8878 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2015-8878 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Php Php, published on 22 May 2016. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2015-8878 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Php Php. 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-2015-8878/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2015-8878/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2015-8878
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2015-8878
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2015-8878

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2015-8878/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.