Vulnerability Database

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Total vulnerabilities in the database

CVE-2015-9231 — iterm2 / iterm2

Exposure of Sensitive Information to an Unauthorized Actor

iTerm2 3.x before 3.1.1 allows remote attackers to discover passwords by reading DNS queries. A new (default) feature was added to iTerm2 version 3.0.0 (and unreleased 2.9.x versions such as 2.9.20150717) that resulted in a potential information disclosure. In an attempt to see whether the text under the cursor (or selected text) was a URL, the text would be sent as an unencrypted DNS query. This has the potential to result in passwords and other sensitive information being sent in cleartext without the user being aware.

  • Published: Sep 20, 2017
  • Updated: Nov 8, 2026
  • CVE: CVE-2015-9231
  • Severity: Medium
  • Exploit:
  • CISA KEV:

CVSS v2:

  • Severity: Medium
  • Score: 5
  • AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:N/A:N

CWEs:

Software Affected versions
iterm2 / iterm2 = 2.9.20151111
iterm2 / iterm2 = 2.9.20151229
iterm2 / iterm2 = 2.9.20160102
iterm2 / iterm2 = 2.9.20160113
iterm2 / iterm2 = 2.9.20160206
iterm2 / iterm2 = 2.9.20160313
iterm2 / iterm2 = 2.9.20160422
iterm2 / iterm2 = 2.9.20160426
iterm2 / iterm2 = 2.9.20160510
iterm2 / iterm2 = 2.9.20160523
iterm2 / iterm2 = 3.0.0
iterm2 / iterm2 = 3.0.0-preview
iterm2 / iterm2 = 3.0.1-preview
iterm2 / iterm2 = 3.0.2
iterm2 / iterm2 = 3.0.3
iterm2 / iterm2 = 3.0.4
iterm2 / iterm2 = 3.0.5
iterm2 / iterm2 = 3.0.6
iterm2 / iterm2 = 3.0.7
iterm2 / iterm2 = 3.0.8
iterm2 / iterm2 = 3.0.9
iterm2 / iterm2 = 3.0.10
iterm2 / iterm2 = 3.0.11
iterm2 / iterm2 = 3.0.12
iterm2 / iterm2 = 3.0.13
iterm2 / iterm2 = 3.0.14
iterm2 / iterm2 = 3.0.15
iterm2 / iterm2 = 3.0.20160531
iterm2 / iterm2 = 3.1.0
iterm2 / iterm2 = 3.1.0-beta
iterm2 / iterm2 = 3.1.0-beta1
iterm2 / iterm2 = 3.1.0-beta10
iterm2 / iterm2 = 3.1.0-beta2
iterm2 / iterm2 = 3.1.0-beta3
iterm2 / iterm2 = 3.1.0-beta4
iterm2 / iterm2 = 3.1.0-beta5
iterm2 / iterm2 = 3.1.0-beta6
iterm2 / iterm2 = 3.1.0-beta7
iterm2 / iterm2 = 3.1.0-beta8
iterm2 / iterm2 = 3.1.0-beta9

Is CVE-2015-9231 exposed on your perimeter?

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Frequently Asked Questions

A security vulnerability is a weakness in software, hardware, or configuration that can be exploited to compromise confidentiality, integrity, or availability. Many vulnerabilities are tracked as CVEs (Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures), which provide a standardized identifier so teams can coordinate patching, mitigation, and risk assessment across tools and vendors.

CVSS (Common Vulnerability Scoring System) estimates technical severity, but it doesn't automatically equal business risk. Prioritize using context like internet exposure, affected asset criticality, known exploitation (proof-of-concept or in-the-wild), and whether compensating controls exist. A "Medium" CVSS on an exposed, production system can be more urgent than a "Critical" on an isolated, non-production host.

A vulnerability is the underlying weakness. An exploit is the method or code used to take advantage of it. A zero-day is a vulnerability that is unknown to the vendor or has no publicly available fix when attackers begin using it. In practice, risk increases sharply when exploitation becomes reliable or widespread.

Recurring findings usually come from incomplete Asset Discovery, inconsistent patch management, inherited images, and configuration drift. In modern environments, you also need to watch the software supply chain: dependencies, containers, build pipelines, and third-party services can reintroduce the same weakness even after you patch a single host. Unknown or unmanaged assets (often called Shadow IT) are a common reason the same issues resurface.

Use a simple, repeatable triage model: focus first on externally exposed assets, high-value systems (identity, VPN, email, production), vulnerabilities with known exploits, and issues that enable remote code execution or privilege escalation. Then enforce patch SLAs and track progress using consistent metrics so remediation is steady, not reactive.

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