CVE-2014-8121
glibc: Unexpected closing of nss_files databases after lookups causes denial of service
Severity
LowRed Hat Product Security
CVSS 2.0
Review impact separately from score.
Published · February 23, 2015
Updated · November 21, 2025
Description
It was found that the files back end of Name Service Switch (NSS) did not isolate iteration over an entire database from key-based look-up API calls. An application performing look-ups on a database while iterating over it could enter an infinite loop, leading to a denial of service.
Statement
This issue affects the versions of glibc as shipped with Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6. Red Hat Product Security has rated this issue as having Low security impact. A future update may address this issue. For additional information, refer to the Issue Severity Classification: https://access.redhat.com/security/updates/classification/.
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 is now in Production 3 Phase of the support and maintenance life cycle. This issue has been rated as having Low security impact and is not currently planned to be addressed in future updates. For additional information, refer to the Red Hat Enterprise Linux Life Cycle: https://access.redhat.com/support/policy/updates/errata/.
CVSS score applicability
The CVSS score(s) listed for this vulnerability do not reflect the associated product's status, and are included for informational purposes to better understand the severity of this vulnerability.
Mitigation
No mitigation is specified in collected source.
CVSS / CWE
CVSS 2.0 · 3.3AV:A/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:P
CWE-835 · Loop with Unreachable Exit Condition ('Infinite Loop')