Vulnerability report

Exploited in the wild Confirmed confidence In CISA KEV

CVE-2014-6278

Bash

GNU / Bash

Watch CVE-2014-6278 Browse KEV feed
Severity
CVSS 8.8 · High
Confidence
Confirmed
Exploit status
Exploited in the wild
EPSS
99.6%
First observed
—
Last observed
—

Decision summary

What security teams need to know first

Direct answers before the deeper technical record.

What it is

CVE-2014-6278 is an unauthenticated vulnerability affecting GNU Bash. GNU Bash through 4.3 bash43-026 does not properly parse function definitions in the values of environment variables, which allows remote attackers...

Is it exploited?

Yes. Previdian tracks this CVE as a known exploited vulnerability. Confidence is confirmed. Listed in CISA KEV. Also confirmed by third-party sources.

Who is affected?

GNU / Bash.

What should we do?

Prioritize remediation. Validate affected assets and apply vendor fixes on an accelerated timeline.

Overview

Bash

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.

View vendor advisory (opens in new tab)
Published
30 Sep 2014
Exploitation Reported
01 Jun 2026
Attack vector
Remote
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
Required

Tags

cisa apache

CVE References

Exploitation evidence

Why Previdian marks this CVE as exploited

Third-party attestation and first-party sensor observation are shown separately so teams can judge the evidence chain.

Exploited in the wild

CVE

Recorded 01 Jun 2026

A trusted third party reported exploitation.

Proof of concept available

Recorded 28 Apr 2025

Public scanner or PoC coverage increases practical exploitability.

Known exploited vulnerability sources

Per-source evidence links for KEV attestations are available through the Previdian Pro API.

Learn about Pro API access
Source Added
CVE First 2026-06-01 10:41 UTC
CISA 2026-06-02 14:05 UTC
The Hacker News 2026-10-09 12:32 UTC

Detection

Operational artifacts and observed signals

Make the evidence actionable in scanner, SOC, and edge-control workflows.

Observed signals

Request targets
User-Agents
Callback hosts
0
0
0

Request targets and User-Agents available in Pro. Callback host details available in Enterprise.

Virtual patch status

No Previdian virtual patch is currently available. Future rules ship for ModSecurity, Cloudflare, and AWS WAF.

Learn about virtual patches →

Scanner Artifacts

Scanner and exploit-framework references linked to this CVE.

Scanner Reference Detected
Metasploit https://github.com/rapid7/metasploit-framework/blob/master/modules/exploits/multi/http/cups_bash_env_exec.rb 29 Apr 2025

Risk and context

Severity, weaknesses, and research context

CVSS v3.1

8.8 High

Potential damage if exploited. Separate from whether attackers are using it.

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

EPSS

99.6%

Estimated chance of exploitation in the next 30 days. Previdian's warning comes from evidence, not this score.

Weaknesses

Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an OS Command ('OS Command Injection') CWE-78

Recent mention · The Hacker News

Flax Typhoon Exploits Five Flaws as CISA Sets October 11 Deadline for Federal Agencies

Ravie LakshmananOct 09, 2026Vulnerability / Cyber Espionage The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) on Thursday added five security flaws to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog, following their abuse by a China-linked threat actor known...

Read full advisory

All CVSS Scores

CVSS v3.1 8.8 High

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

CVSS v2.0 10.0 High

AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C

All Mentions

Recent mention · The Hacker News

Flax Typhoon Exploits Five Flaws as CISA Sets October 11 Deadline for Federal Agencies

The Hacker News · 09 Oct 2026

Ravie LakshmananOct 09, 2026Vulnerability / Cyber Espionage The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) on Thursday added five security flaws to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog, following their abuse by a China-linked threat actor known as Flax Typhoon. The vulnerabilities in question are listed below - CVE-2015-3306 (CVSS score: 10.0) - An improper access control vulnerability in ProFTPD that could allow remote attackers to read and write to arbitrary files via the site cpfr and site cpto commands. CVE-2021-3199 (CVSS score: 9.8) - A path traversal...

Recent mention · The Hacker News

FBI Says China-Linked Hackers Ran Portal Giving Third Parties Access to Stolen Emails

The Hacker News · 08 Oct 2026

Swati KhandelwalOct 08, 2026Data Breach / Cyber Espionage Hackers tied to a Chinese cybersecurity company stole email from government organizations, law enforcement agencies, healthcare systems, and religious institutions in Southeast Asia, the FBI and agencies in 6 other countries said on October 8. The company, Integrity Technology Group, has been sanctioned by the U.S. and the UK. The hackers scanned websites for flaws using a tool containing more than 1,300 scripts, guessed passwords for Microsoft 365 and Exchange accounts, and copied mailboxes using tools designed to collect mail....

Potential Proof of Concepts

These PoCs are unverified and could contain malware. Use at your own risk.

cups_bash_env_exec

metasploit · Created Unknown

Metasploit module for CVE-2014-6278

apache_mod_cgi_bash_env_exec

metasploit · Created Unknown

Metasploit module for CVE-2014-6278

Timeline

From disclosure to observed exploitation

  1. 12:32 UTC

    KEV confirmed by The Hacker News

    Exploitation attested by an external source

  2. 14:05 UTC

    Added to CISA KEV

    Listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog

  3. 10:41 UTC

    Added to Previdian KEV Feed

    High-confidence, third-party attested exploitation

  4. 10:58 UTC

    Metasploit module available

    Exploit module available

  5. 15:02 UTC

    Public PoC available

    Public proof-of-concept code published

  6. 10:00 UTC

    CVE published

    Vulnerability disclosed publicly

  7. 00:00 UTC

    CVE ID reserved

    Identifier reserved by the CNA

Pro API

Automate this intelligence

Confidence, exploit status, sensor telemetry, PoCs, scanner integrations, mentions, and tags are available programmatically for VM, SOC, and CTI workflows.

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  • Evidence confidence and provenance
  • First-party sensor telemetry
  • PoC and scanner references
  • Affected versions and enrichment
  • Automation-ready JSON delivery

GET /api/v2/pro/kevs/CVE-2014-6278

Free JSON includes basic KEV fields 
{
  "cve_id": "CVE-2014-6278",
  "confidence": "Confirmed",
  "cvss_score": 8.8,
  "cvss_estimated": false,
  "epss_score": 0.99621,
  "exploit_status": {
    "exploited_in_the_wild": true,
    "active_exploitation_observed": false
  },
  "sensor_telemetry": { "attempts": 0, "sensors": 0 }
}