CVE-2014-1943: Fine Free file before 5.17 allows context-dependent attackers to cause a denial of service (infinite recurs...

Security readout for executives and security teams

CVE-2014-1943 is a denial-of-service flaw in file before version 5.17. A specially crafted file can make the parser recurse indefinitely, consume CPU, and crash. The business risk is availability loss in services that inspect untrusted files, such as upload handling, malware scanning, or content classification workflows. Most likely exposure is systems or applications using file/libmagic before 5.17 to process attacker-supplied files. Public-facing upload, email attachment, document-processing, and file-inspection paths deserve priority. The bundle lists downstream advisories but does not provide a complete affected product matrix. Treat this as a targeted availability risk, not a confirmed breach indicator. Prioritize internet-facing or business-critical file-processing services, then clean up older operating system images and embedded dependencies during normal vulnerability management cycles. Mitigation focus: Upgrade file/libmagic to version 5.17 or a vendor-fixed package.; Apply relevant OS vendor security updates for affected distributions.; Review applications that bundle or statically link libmagic..

Prepared

Jun 14, 2026, 14:50 UTC (UTC+00:00)

Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.