CVE-2025-15661
MediumCVSS 6.5Exploitation Probability (EPSS)
Low risk50th percentile - higher than 50% of all known CVEs
Summary
A vulnerability in libssh2 up to version 1.11.1 (fixed in commit 2dae302) causes an out-of-bounds heap read in the sftp_symlink() function in src/sftp.c. A malicious SSH server or man-in-the-middle attacker can send a crafted SSH_FXP_NAME response, leading to disclosure of heap memory contents or a crash.
Risk Assessment
An attacker can exploit this vulnerability to read sensitive data from heap memory or cause a denial of service (DoS) by crashing the application using libssh2. The risk is particularly high in environments where the client connects to untrusted SSH servers.
Recommendation
Immediately update libssh2 to a version containing commit 2dae302 (above 1.11.1) or apply the security patch. In the meantime, restrict SFTP connections to trusted SSH servers only.
Other vulnerabilities in libssh2
See all- CVE-2026-55200High
libssh2 1.11.1, fixed in commit 97acf3d, contains an out-of-bounds write vulnerability in ssh2_transport_read() that fails to enforce upper bounds on the packet_length field. Remote attackers can send crafted SSH packets with excessively large packet_length values to corrupt heap memory and achieve remote code execution.
- CVE-2019-3861Medium
An out of bounds read flaw was discovered in libssh2 before 1.8.1 in the way SSH packets with a padding length value greater than the packet length are parsed. A remote attacker who compromises a SSH server may be able to cause a Denial of Service or read data in the client memory.
- CVE-2019-3860Medium
An out of bounds read flaw was discovered in libssh2 before 1.8.1 in the way SFTP packets with empty payloads are parsed. A remote attacker who compromises a SSH server may be able to cause a Denial of Service or read data in the client memory.
- CVE-2019-3857High
In libssh2 before 1.8.1, an integer overflow flaw which could lead to an out of bounds write was discovered in the way SSH_MSG_CHANNEL_REQUEST packets with an exit signal are parsed. A remote attacker who compromises a SSH server may be able to execute code on the client system when a user connects to the server.
- CVE-2019-3856High
In libssh2 before 1.8.1, an integer overflow flaw, which could lead to an out of bounds write, was discovered in the way keyboard prompt requests are parsed. A remote attacker who compromises a SSH server may be able to execute code on the client system when a user connects to the server.
- CVE-2019-3858Medium
An out of bounds read flaw was discovered in libssh2 before 1.8.1 when a specially crafted SFTP packet is received from the server. A remote attacker who compromises a SSH server may be able to cause a Denial of Service or read data in the client memory.
- CVE-2019-3855High
An integer overflow flaw leading to an out-of-bounds write was discovered in libssh2 before 1.8.1 in the way packets are read from the server. A remote attacker who compromises an SSH server may execute code on the client system when a user connects.
- CVE-2019-3862High
An out-of-bounds read flaw was discovered in libssh2 before 1.8.1 in the way SSH_MSG_CHANNEL_REQUEST packets with an exit status message and no payload are parsed. A remote attacker who compromises an SSH server may cause a Denial of Service or read data from client memory.
- CVE-2019-3859Critical
An out of bounds read flaw was discovered in libssh2 before 1.8.1 in the _libssh2_packet_require and _libssh2_packet_requirev functions. A remote attacker who compromises a SSH server may be able to cause a Denial of Service or read data in the client memory.
- CVE-2026-66035High
Pre-authentication heap buffer overflow in libssh2 up to 1.11.1, allowing a malicious SSH server to corrupt client heap metadata by sending a packet with packet_length smaller than cipher block size during Encrypt-then-MAC negotiation.
Original NVD description (English source)
libssh2 through 1.11.1, fixed in commit 2dae302, contains an out-of-bounds heap read vulnerability in the sftp_symlink() function in src/sftp.c that allows a malicious SSH server or man-in-the-middle attacker to disclose heap memory contents or cause a crash by sending a crafted SSH_FXP_NAME response. Attackers can supply a link_len value larger than the actual packet data in SSH_FXP_NAME responses for SFTP READLINK and REALPATH operations, triggering a heap buffer over-read of up to target_len minus one bytes due to the missing validation of available packet buffer size before the memcpy operation.
Vulnerability data from NVD (NIST) · CISA KEV · EPSS

