What is CVE-2015-8918?

CVE-2015-8918 is a high-severity vulnerability in Libarchive, classified under Improper Restriction of Operations within the Bounds of a Memory Buffer. CVSS score: 7.5/10. Published 2016-09-20.

How severe is CVE-2015-8918?

High severity. CVSS v3 base score is 7.5 out of 10.

Is CVE-2015-8918 known to be exploited?

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

Buffer overflow in Libarchive

CVE-2015-8918

The archive_string_append function in archive_string.c in libarchive before 3.2.0 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (crash) via a crafted cab files, related to "overlapping memcpy."

Vulnerability class: Buffer Overflow

Published 2016-09-20 · last modified 2026-06-17.

CVSS v3 metric

CVSS v3 base score 7.5 (High). Vector: CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H.

EPSS exploit prediction

EPSS: 0.038 (90.0th percentile), scored 2026-10-19.

Low probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, but still tracked. 90th percentile — 90.0% of CVEs in the catalogue have a lower EPSS than this one. How to read EPSS.

EPSS over last 30 days · oldest: 0.038 · newest: 0.038 · change: 0.000

Affected products

Libarchive
Novell SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop — versions 12.0
Novell SUSE Linux Enterprise Server — versions 12.0
Novell SUSE Linux Enterprise Software Development Kit — versions 12.0

Weakness classification (CWE)

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

Public proof-of-concept exploits

mrash/afl-cve

References

blog.fuzzing-project.org/47-Many-invalid-memory-access-issues-in-libarchive.html (Third Party Advisory)
github.com/libarchive/libarchive/issues/506 (Patch, Third Party Advisory)
lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2016-07/msg00025.html (vendor-advisory, Third Party Advisory)
www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2016/06/17/2 (mailing-list, Third Party Advisory)
security.gentoo.org/glsa/201701-03 (vendor-advisory)
www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2016/06/17/5 (mailing-list, Third Party Advisory)
www.securityfocus.com/bid/91300 (vdb-entry)

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2015-8918?: CVE-2015-8918 is a high-severity vulnerability in Libarchive, classified under Improper Restriction of Operations within the Bounds of a Memory Buffer. CVSS score: 7.5/10. Published 2016-09-20.
How severe is CVE-2015-8918?: High severity. CVSS v3 base score is 7.5 out of 10.
Is CVE-2015-8918 known to be exploited?: 1 public proof-of-concept repositories are indexed. Not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.