CVE-2015-6815

Guest denial of service via zero-length transmit descriptor

Published Jan 31, 2020 · Updated Aug 6, 2024

Denial of service in QEMU before 2.4.0.1 allows guest OS users to hang the e1000 transmit path and crash the guest. The process_tx_desc loop subtracts a zero byte count indefinitely when a transmit descriptor sets both hdr_len and mss to zero. Exploitation requires an emulated e1000 NIC and guest control of its transmit descriptors, and the documented consequence is limited to availability.

CVSS severity3.5
Low
EPSS probability0.98%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Denial of service in QEMU before 2.4.0.1 allows guest OS users to hang the e1000 transmit path and crash the guest. The process_tx_desc loop subtracts a zero byte count indefinitely when a transmit descriptor sets both hdr_len and mss to zero. Exploitation requires an emulated e1000 NIC and guest control of its transmit descriptors, and the documented consequence is limited to availability.

The record

CVE
CVE-2015-6815
Published
Jan 31, 2020
Updated
Aug 6, 2024
Vendor
QEMU Project
Product
QEMU
Classifications
CWE-835, T1499.004
Attack vector
adjacent
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Jan 31, 2020CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Aug 6, 2024Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

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Is a vulnerable build present?

Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.

  1. Affected versionversion=before 2.4.0.1

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectoradjacent
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

QEMU Project · QEMUversion=before 2.4.0.1

Published CVSS scores

3.5Canonical Ubuntu SecurityCVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L
3.5NIST NVDCVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L

CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.

Attacks

What attackers are doing with it

Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.

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No observations available

Sep 10, 2026Sep 16, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 16, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectoradjacent
Privilegesauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-835Loop with Unreachable Exit Condition ('Infinite Loop')
T1499.004Application or System Exploitation

Public exploit references

No public exploit references are available in this record.

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Technologies

Your stack

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Your stack

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