CVE-2014-6278
GNU Bash: OS Command Injection
As of , CVE-2014-6278 in GNU Bash is on CISA's list of exploited vulnerabilities: CISA listed it on . Our patch-first group: Patch this week.
- Exploited
- Yes: CISA listed it on 2 October 2025
- US federal deadline
- 23 October 202521 days after CISA listed it. US federal civilian agencies must fix it by then.
- Used in ransomware campaigns
- Not known to CISA
- EPSS score
- 0.99Higher than 99% of the CVEs EPSS scores. EPSS estimates the chance of exploitation activity in the next 30 days.
- Public exploit
- 3 Metasploit modules and 5 Exploit-DB entries (2 verified)
- Fix
- Vendor advice: sec.cloudapps.cisco.com, support.broadcom.com and www.ibm.comLinks below, from CISA's entry.
What CISA says to do
Apply mitigations per vendor instructions, follow applicable BOD 22-01 guidance for cloud services, or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable.
CISA's required action
What the flaw is
GNU Bash contains an OS command injection vulnerability which allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary commands via a crafted environment.
CISA's description
GNU Bash through 4.3 bash43-026 does not properly parse function definitions in the values of environment variables, which allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary commands via a crafted environment, as demonstrated by vectors involving the ForceCommand feature in OpenSSH sshd, the mod_cgi and mod_cgid modules in the Apache HTTP Server, scripts executed by unspecified DHCP clients, and other situations in which setting the environment occurs across a privilege boundary from Bash execution. NOTE: this vulnerability exists because of an incomplete fix for CVE-2014-6271, CVE-2014-7169, and CVE-2014-6277.
The CVE record's description, from debian
- CVE published
- 30 September 2014
- Assigned by
- debian
- CVSS
- 8.8 High (CVSS 3.1, from CISA-ADP)
- CWE-78
- Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an OS Command ('OS Command Injection')
- CISA SSVC, exploitation
- active
- CISA SSVC, automatable
- no
- CISA SSVC, technical impact
- total
Timeline
- Exploit-DB published an exploit (EDB-ID 36933).
- The CVE record was published.
- Exploit-DB published an exploit (EDB-ID 34860).
- Exploit-DB published an exploit (EDB-ID 34900).
- Exploit-DB published an exploit (EDB-ID 39568).
- Exploit-DB published an exploit (EDB-ID 39887).
- CISA added it to its list of exploited vulnerabilities.
- The US federal deadline to fix it.
Public exploits
Facts from Metasploit's module list and Exploit-DB's index; we never copy exploit code.
- Metasploit: Apache mod_cgi Bash Environment Variable Code Injection (Shellshock)exploit module, rank excellent
- Metasploit: CUPS Filter Bash Environment Variable Code Injection (Shellshock)exploit module, rank excellent
- Metasploit: Apache mod_cgi Bash Environment Variable Injection (Shellshock) Scannerauxiliary module, rank normal
- Exploit-DB: Apache mod_cgi - 'Shellshock' Remote Command InjectionEDB-ID 34900, verified by Exploit-DB, 6 October 2014
- Exploit-DB: dhclient 4.1 - Bash Environment Variable Command Injection (Shellshock)EDB-ID 36933, verified by Exploit-DB, 29 September 2014
- Exploit-DB: Sun Secure Global Desktop and Oracle Global Desktop 4.61.915 - Command Injection (Shellshock)EDB-ID 39887, 6 June 2016
- Exploit-DB: Cisco UCS Manager 2.1(1b) - Remote Command Injection (Shellshock)EDB-ID 39568, 16 March 2016
- Exploit-DB: GNU bash 4.3.11 - Environment Variable dhclientEDB-ID 34860, 2 October 2014
Read further
- CVE recordcve.org
- NVD entrynvd.nist.gov
- CISA's catalogcisa.gov
- EPSS for this CVEapi.first.org