# CVE-2015-9261: Null dereference in n/a

> A null pointer dereference in BusyBox's unzip functionality allows attackers to cause a denial of service via a crafted ZIP file.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.5 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** A user has to click or open something
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 26 Jul 2018
- **Updated:** 6 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2015-9261, DLA-337-1, GHSA-4ph6-v858-6wh9, MGASA-2018-0413, UBUNTU-CVE-2015-9261

## What is CVE-2015-9261?

CVE-2015-9261 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Canonical Ubuntu Linux, published on 26 Jul 2018. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.

### Official description

huft_build in archival/libarchive/decompress_gunzip.c in BusyBox before 1.27.2 misuses a pointer, causing segfaults and an application crash during an unzip operation on a specially crafted ZIP file.

Weakness: CWE-476 (NULL Pointer Dereference)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2015-9261?

It affects 3 products.


Products: Busybox Busybox, Canonical Ubuntu Linux, Debian Debian Linux.

## How do I fix CVE-2015-9261?

Upgrade to a fixed version.

## Is CVE-2015-9261 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2015-9261 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Canonical Ubuntu Linux

- [CVE-2022-48174](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-48174/): Memory corruption in n/a (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2021-42377](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-42377/): Memory corruption in busybox (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2016-2148](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-2148/): Memory corruption in n/a (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2022-28391](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-28391/): Command injection in n/a (high 8.8)
- [CVE-2017-16544](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-16544/): Code injection in n/a (high 8.8)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2015-9261 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2015-9261 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Canonical Ubuntu Linux, published on 26 Jul 2018. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2015-9261 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Canonical Ubuntu 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-2015-9261/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2015-9261/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2015-9261
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2015-9261
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2015-9261

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2015-9261/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.