CVE-2014-3478

CVE-2014-3478 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Christos Zoulas File with a CVSS 3.x base score of 6.5. Its EPSS exploit-prediction score of 15% places it in the 97th percentile, indicating an elevated likelihood of exploitation. The underlying weakness is classified as CWE-119.

Key facts

• Severity: Medium (CVSS 3.x base score 6.5)
• CVSS v2: 5.0
• EPSS exploit prediction: 15% (97th percentile)
• Actively exploited: Not listed in CISA KEV
• Weakness: CWE-119
• Affected product: Christos Zoulas File
• Published: 2014-07-09
• Last modified: 2026-06-17

Description

Buffer overflow in the mconvert function in softmagic.c in file before 5.19, as used in the Fileinfo component in PHP before 5.4.30 and 5.5.x before 5.5.14, allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (application crash) via a crafted Pascal string in a FILE_PSTRING conversion.

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2014-3478?

Buffer overflow in the mconvert function in softmagic.c in file before 5.19, as used in the Fileinfo component in PHP before 5.4.30 and 5.5.x before 5.5.14, allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (application crash) via a crafted Pascal string in a FILE_PSTRING conversion.

How severe is CVE-2014-3478?

CVE-2014-3478 has a CVSS 3.x base score of 6.5, rated medium severity. It is exploitable over network with low attack complexity, requires no privileges and user interaction. Impact on confidentiality is none, integrity none, and availability high.

Is CVE-2014-3478 being actively exploited?

It is not currently listed in CISA's KEV catalog. Its EPSS exploit-prediction score is 15% (97th percentile), an estimate of the probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.

What products are affected by CVE-2014-3478?

CVE-2014-3478 primarily affects Christos Zoulas File. In total, 79 product configurations (CPEs) are listed as vulnerable; see the affected-products list for the exact versions.

How do I fix CVE-2014-3478?

Review the linked vendor and NVD advisories for patched versions and mitigations, then upgrade or apply the recommended workaround.

When was CVE-2014-3478 published?

CVE-2014-3478 was published on 2014-07-09 and last updated on 2026-06-17.

References

• http://lists.apple.com/archives/security-announce/2015/Apr/msg00001.html
• http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-updates/2014-09/msg00046.html
• http://marc.info/?l=bugtraq&m=141017844705317&w=2
• http://mx.gw.com/pipermail/file/2014/001553.html
• http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2014-1327.html
• http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2014-1765.html
• http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2014-1766.html
• http://secunia.com/advisories/59794
• http://secunia.com/advisories/59831
• http://support.apple.com/kb/HT6443
• http://www.debian.org/security/2014/dsa-2974
• http://www.debian.org/security/2014/dsa-3021
• http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/topics/security/bulletinjan2015-2370101.html
• http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/topics/security/linuxbulletinoct2015-2719645.html
• http://www.php.net/ChangeLog-5.php
• http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/68239
• https://bugs.php.net/bug.php?id=67410
• https://github.com/file/file/commit/27a14bc7ba285a0a5ebfdb55e54001aa11932b08
• https://support.apple.com/HT204659

Affected products (79)

• cpe:2.3:a:christos_zoulas:file:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
• cpe:2.3:a:christos_zoulas:file:5.00:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
• cpe:2.3:a:christos_zoulas:file:5.01:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
• cpe:2.3:a:christos_zoulas:file:5.02:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
• cpe:2.3:a:christos_zoulas:file:5.03:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
• cpe:2.3:a:christos_zoulas:file:5.04:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
• cpe:2.3:a:christos_zoulas:file:5.05:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
• cpe:2.3:a:christos_zoulas:file:5.06:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
• cpe:2.3:a:christos_zoulas:file:5.07:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
• cpe:2.3:a:christos_zoulas:file:5.08:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
• cpe:2.3:a:christos_zoulas:file:5.09:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
• cpe:2.3:a:christos_zoulas:file:5.10:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
• cpe:2.3:a:christos_zoulas:file:5.11:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
• cpe:2.3:a:christos_zoulas:file:5.12:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
• cpe:2.3:a:christos_zoulas:file:5.13:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
• cpe:2.3:a:christos_zoulas:file:5.14:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
• cpe:2.3:a:christos_zoulas:file:5.15:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
• cpe:2.3:a:christos_zoulas:file:5.16:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
• cpe:2.3:a:christos_zoulas:file:5.17:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
• cpe:2.3:a:php:php:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
• cpe:2.3:a:php:php:5.4.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
• cpe:2.3:a:php:php:5.4.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
• cpe:2.3:a:php:php:5.4.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
• cpe:2.3:a:php:php:5.4.3:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
• cpe:2.3:a:php:php:5.4.4:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
• cpe:2.3:a:php:php:5.4.5:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
• cpe:2.3:a:php:php:5.4.6:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
• cpe:2.3:a:php:php:5.4.7:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
• cpe:2.3:a:php:php:5.4.8:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
• cpe:2.3:a:php:php:5.4.9:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
• cpe:2.3:a:php:php:5.4.10:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
• cpe:2.3:a:php:php:5.4.11:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
• cpe:2.3:a:php:php:5.4.12:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
• cpe:2.3:a:php:php:5.4.12:rc1:*:*:*:*:*:*
• cpe:2.3:a:php:php:5.4.12:rc2:*:*:*:*:*:*
• cpe:2.3:a:php:php:5.4.13:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
• cpe:2.3:a:php:php:5.4.13:rc1:*:*:*:*:*:*
• cpe:2.3:a:php:php:5.4.14:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
• cpe:2.3:a:php:php:5.4.14:rc1:*:*:*:*:*:*
• cpe:2.3:a:php:php:5.4.15:rc1:*:*:*:*:*:*

More vulnerabilities in Christos Zoulas File

• CVE-2009-3930 — Critical (CVSS 9.3): Multiple integer overflows in Christos Zoulas file before 5.02 allow user-assisted remote attackers to have an…
• CVE-2009-1515 — Medium (CVSS 6.8): Heap-based buffer overflow in the cdf_read_sat function in src/cdf.c in Christos Zoulas file 5.00 allows user-assisted…
• CVE-2014-0207 — Medium (CVSS 6.5): The cdf_read_short_sector function in cdf.c in file before 5.19, as used in the Fileinfo component in PHP before 5.4.30…
• CVE-2012-1571 — Medium (CVSS 6.5): file before 5.11 and libmagic allow remote attackers to cause a denial of service (crash) via a crafted Composite…
• CVE-2014-3538 — Medium (CVSS 5.0): file before 5.19 does not properly restrict the amount of data read during a regex search, which allows remote…
• CVE-2013-7345 — Medium (CVSS 5.0): The BEGIN regular expression in the awk script detector in magic/Magdir/commands in file before 5.15 uses multiple…

All CVEs affecting Christos Zoulas File →

Other CWE-119 (Improper Restriction of Operations within the Bounds of a Memory Buffer) vulnerabilities

• CVE-2026-105285 — Critical (CVSS 10.0): A security vulnerability has been detected in Totolink A3002MU 1.0.0-B20230403.1455. This affects an unknown function…
• CVE-2026-104610 — Critical (CVSS 10.0): A security vulnerability has been detected in Tenda HG7, HG9 and HG10 300001138_en_xpon. This impacts the function…
• CVE-2026-101039 — Critical (CVSS 10.0): A vulnerability was identified in FAST FAC1900R 20190827_2.0.2. Affected by this issue is the function copy_msg_element…
• CVE-2026-96257 — Critical (CVSS 10.0): A flaw has been found in Fast FAC1203R Gigabit Edition 2.0.4. Affected by this issue is the function copy_msg_element…
• CVE-2026-94089 — Critical (CVSS 10.0): A vulnerability was determined in D-Link DIR-868L 2.01b05. This issue affects the function strcpy of the file…
• CVE-2026-94003 — Critical (CVSS 10.0): A vulnerability has been found in Comfast CF-N1-S 2.6.0.1. Impacted is the function get_css_path_from_uri of the file…

Browse all CWE-119 (Improper Restriction of Operations within the Bounds of a Memory Buffer) vulnerabilities →

Threat intelligence

Threat-intel indicators referencing this CVE:

• 187.141.71.166 (ipv4-addr)
• 113.164.66.10 (ipv4-addr)
• 103.38.219.22 (ipv4-addr)
• 103.20.122.54 (ipv4-addr)
• 80.87.83.229 (ipv4-addr)
• 45.84.120.3 (ipv4-addr)
• 5.99.196.202 (ipv4-addr)
• 222.99.52.202 (ipv4-addr)