Description
The BEGIN regular expression in the awk script detector in magic/Magdir/commands in file before 5.15 uses multiple wildcards with unlimited repetitions, which allows context-dependent attackers to cause a denial of service (CPU consumption) via a crafted ASCII file that triggers a large amount of backtracking, as demonstrated via a file with many newline characters.
Fixed in Linux distributions
Distributions backport fixes, so the version that fixes this vulnerability differs per release — upgrade to at least the version shown. From the distributions' security trackers and advisories.
Debian
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Debian 14 | file | 1:5.17-0.1 | — |
| Debian 13 | file | 1:5.17-0.1 | — |
| Debian 12 | file | 1:5.17-0.1 | — |
| Debian 7 | file | 5.11-2+deb7u2 | DSA-2873-1 |
| Debian 7 | php5 | 5.4.34-0+deb7u1 | DSA-3064-1 |
| Debian 6.0 | file | 5.04-5+squeeze4 | DSA-2873-1 |
Ubuntu
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ubuntu 14.04 LTS | file | 1:5.14-2ubuntu3.1 | USN-2278-1 |
Red Hat
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| RHEL 7 | php +24 | 5.4.16-23.el7_0 | RHSA-2014:1013 |
| RHEL 1 | php54-php +24 | 5.4.16-22.el6 | RHSA-2014:1765 |
openSUSE
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| openSUSE Tumbleweed | php5 | 5.6.28-1.1 | openSUSE-SU-2024:10344-1 |
| openSUSE Tumbleweed | php7 | 7.0.14-1.4 | openSUSE-SU-2024:10290-1 |
| openSUSE Tumbleweed | php8 | 8.0.11-1.1 | openSUSE-SU-2024:11169-1 |
Oracle Linux
| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oracle Linux 7 | php +24 | 5.4.16-23.el7_0 | ELSA-2014-1013 |
Advisories 9
- RHSA-2014:1765 Red Hat Security Advisory: php54-php security update Red Hat Security Advisories (RHSA) · Jun 29, 2026
- RHSA-2014:1013 Red Hat Security Advisory: php security update Red Hat Security Advisories (RHSA) · Jun 29, 2026
- USN-2278-1 file vulnerabilities Ubuntu Security Notices (USN) · Apr 22, 2026
- DSA-2873-1 file - several Debian Security (DSA / DLA) · Mar 9, 2026
- DSA-3064-1 php5 - security update Debian Security (DSA / DLA) · Mar 9, 2026
- openSUSE-SU-2024:10290-1 apache2-mod_php7-7.0.14-1.4 on GA media SUSE / openSUSE Security Updates · Feb 4, 2026
- openSUSE-SU-2024:10344-1 apache2-mod_php5-5.6.28-1.1 on GA media SUSE / openSUSE Security Updates · Feb 4, 2026
- openSUSE-SU-2024:11169-1 php8-8.0.11-1.1 on GA media SUSE / openSUSE Security Updates · Feb 4, 2026
- ELSA-2014-1013 Moderate: php security update (Oracle Linux 7) Oracle Linux Security Advisories (ELSA) · Aug 6, 2014