#VU16107 Use-after-free error in PHP - CVE-2015-0273

Vulnerability identifier: #VU16107

Vulnerability risk: High

CVSSv4.0: 8.9 [CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:P/U:Amber]

CVE-ID: CVE-2015-0273

CWE-ID: CWE-416

Exploitation vector: Network

Exploit availability: Yes

Vulnerable software:
PHP
Universal components / Libraries / Scripting languages

Vendor: PHP Group

Description

The vulnerability allows a remote attacker to execute arbitrary code on the target system.

The vulnerability exists due to multiple use-after-free vulnerabilities in ext/date/php_date.c in PHP before 5.4.38, 5.5.x before 5.5.22, and 5.6.x before 5.6.6. A remote attacker can trigger memory corruption via crafted serialized input containing a (1) R or (2) r type specifier in (a) DateTimeZone data handled by the php_date_timezone_initialize_from_hash function or (b) DateTime data handled by the php_date_initialize_from_hash function and execute arbitrary code on the target system.

Successful exploitation of this vulnerability may result in complete compromise of vulnerable system.

Mitigation
Install update from vendor's website.

Vulnerable software versions

PHP: 5.4.0 - 5.4.37, 5.5.0 - 5.5.21, 5.6.0 - 5.6.4

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External links
https://bugs.php.net/bug.php?id=68942

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Q & A

Can this vulnerability be exploited remotely?

Yes. This vulnerability can be exploited by a remote non-authenticated attacker via the Internet.

Is there known malware, which exploits this vulnerability?

No. We are not aware of malware exploiting this vulnerability. However, proof of concept for this vulnerability is available.