What is CVE-2015-5289?

CVE-2015-5289 is a vulnerability in PostgreSQL, classified under Improper Restriction of Operations within the Bounds of a Memory Buffer. Published 2015-10-26.

Is CVE-2015-5289 known to be exploited?

2 public proof-of-concept repositories are indexed. Not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

Buffer overflow in PostgreSQL

CVE-2015-5289

Multiple stack-based buffer overflows in json parsing in PostgreSQL before 9.3.x before 9.3.10 and 9.4.x before 9.4.5 allow attackers to cause a denial of service (server crash) via unspecified vectors, which are not properly handled in (1) json or (2) jsonb values.

Vulnerability class: Buffer Overflow

Published 2015-10-26 · last modified 2026-06-17.

CVSS v2 metric

CVSS v2 base score 6.4 (Medium). Vector: AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:N/A:P. This CVE predates CVSS v3 and has no v3 score from NVD.

EPSS exploit prediction

EPSS: 0.050 (92.0th percentile), scored 2026-09-29.

Low probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, but still tracked. 92nd percentile — 92.0% of CVEs in the catalogue have a lower EPSS than this one. How to read EPSS.

EPSS over last 30 days · oldest: 0.050 · newest: 0.050 · change: 0.000

Affected products

PostgreSQL
Canonical Ubuntu Linux — versions 12.04, 14.04, 15.04
Debian Linux — versions 8.0, 9.0

Weakness classification (CWE)

CWE-119 — Improper Restriction of Operations within the Bounds of a Memory Buffer

Public proof-of-concept exploits

References

www.securityfocus.com/bid/77048 (VDB Entry, Third Party Advisory, vdb-entry)
www.postgresql.org/docs/9.3/static/release-9-3-10.html (Vendor Advisory)
lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2016-03/msg00016.html (vendor-advisory, Mailing List, Third Party Advisory)
www.postgresql.org/docs/9.4/static/release-9-4-5.html (Vendor Advisory)
www.ubuntu.com/usn/USN-2772-1 (vendor-advisory, Third Party Advisory)
security.gentoo.org/glsa/201701-33 (vendor-advisory, Third Party Advisory)
www.oracle.com/technetwork/topics/security/linuxbulletinoct2015-2719645.html (Third Party Advisory)
lists.fedoraproject.org/pipermail/package-announce/2015-November/172316.html (vendor-advisory, Mailing List, Third Party Advisory)
lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-updates/2015-11/msg00033.html (vendor-advisory, Mailing List, Third Party Advisory)
git.postgresql.org/gitweb/

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2015-5289?: CVE-2015-5289 is a vulnerability in PostgreSQL, classified under Improper Restriction of Operations within the Bounds of a Memory Buffer. Published 2015-10-26.
Is CVE-2015-5289 known to be exploited?: 2 public proof-of-concept repositories are indexed. Not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.