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CVE-2015-8972

31
FAUCET Score

CVE-2015-8972 describes a critical stack-based buffer overflow vulnerability in GNU Chess (gnuchess) versions prior to 6.2.4. Specifically, the ValidateMove function in frontend/move.cc is susceptible to arbitrary code execution when processing large inputs, particularly in UCI mode. This vulnerability carries a CVSS score of 9.8 (Critical), indicating a severe risk with network-based attacks requiring no user interaction, leading to complete compromise of confidentiality, integrity, and availability. While there is no evidence of active exploitation, nor publicly available exploit code in Metasploit or ExploitDB, the vulnerability has garnered significant community discussion with 10 mentions, suggesting awareness among security researchers.

Impacted Technologies

VendorProductVersion(s)CPE
< 6.2.4CPE matchmatch criteria
cpe:2.3:a:gnu:chess:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

CVSS Data

CVSS version used by this source: 3.1

9.8CRITICAL

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Attack Vector
NETWORK
Attack Complexity
LOW
Privileges Required
NONE
User Interaction
NONE
Scope
UNCHANGED
Confidentiality Impact
HIGH
Integrity Impact
HIGH
Availability Impact
HIGH
Exploitability Score
3.9
Impact Score
5.9
CvssVersion
3.1

Exploit Intelligence

EPSS Score
3.76%
Probability of exploitation in next 30 days
EPSS Percentile
88.8%
Percentile rank of EPSS score among Peer Group
As of 2026-07-25
Model: v2026.06.15
This CVE's current EPSS score of 0.0376 is in the 81st percentile among its peer group of 36,833 CVEs.

Social Chatter

The average CVE in this peer group has 0.0 Twitter, 0.1 Reddit, 0.3 Bluesky, 0.3 Mastodon, and 2.4 GitHub mentions.

Media Mentions

No media coverage found for this CVE.

The average CVE in this peer group has 0.3 InfoSec Media, 0.0 Vendor Blog, and 0.0 Security Researcher mentions.

Remediation

Vendor Advisories (1)

redhatCVE-2015-8972Moderate

gnuchess: Stack-based buffer overflow on user move input

Oct 29, 2016

References

lists.gnu.org / archive/html/bug-gnu-chess/2015-10/msg00002.html
ExploitThird Party Advisory
svn.savannah.gnu.org / viewvc/chess
PatchThird Party Advisory
openwall.com / lists/oss-security/2016/11/13/2
Mailing ListThird Party Advisory
openwall.com / lists/oss-security/2016/11/14/11
Mailing ListThird Party Advisory
openwall.com / lists/oss-security/2016/11/14/12
Mailing ListThird Party Advisory