CVE Catalog

CVE-2025-69651

MediumCVSS 5.5
Published: Updated: Translated: NVD NIST

Summary

GNU Binutils through 2.46 readelf contains a vulnerability that leads to an invalid pointer free when processing a crafted ELF binary with malformed relocation or symbol data. The internal all_relocations array may remain partially uninitialized, and later process_got_section_contents() may attempt to free an invalid r_symbol pointer, triggering memory corruption checks in glibc and causing the program to terminate with SIGABRT. The impact is limited to denial of service; the issue is disputed by third parties because the observed behavior occurred only in pre-release code and did not affect any tagged version.

Risk Assessment

A local attacker can cause readelf to crash by supplying a crafted ELF file, resulting in denial of service. The risk affects environments that use readelf to analyze untrusted binaries.

Recommendation

Update GNU Binutils to the latest stable version and avoid running readelf on untrusted ELF files. Monitor official advisories regarding the status of this vulnerability.

Other vulnerabilities in GNU Binutils

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Original NVD description (English source)

GNU Binutils thru 2.46 readelf contains a vulnerability that leads to an invalid pointer free when processing a crafted ELF binary with malformed relocation or symbol data. If dump_relocations returns early due to parsing errors, the internal all_relocations array may remain partially uninitialized. Later, process_got_section_contents() may attempt to free an invalid r_symbol pointer, triggering memory corruption checks in glibc and causing the program to terminate with SIGABRT. No evidence of further memory corruption or code execution was observed; the impact is limited to denial of service. NOTE: this is disputed by third parties because the observed behavior occurred only in pre-release code and did not affect any tagged version.

Vulnerability data from NVD (NIST) · CISA KEV · EPSS