VulnerabilityPublished 22 Sep 2022Updated 27 May 2025

CVE-2022-35037: OTFCC · Out-of-bounds Write

Source CVE Database V5

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 6.5 Medium.

Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 17:16 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

6.5Medium

How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.

EPSS: 1.0% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 63% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.

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

Attack Vector: Network
Attack Complexity: Low
Privileges Required: None
User Interaction: Required
Scope: Unchanged
Confidentiality: None
Integrity: None
Availability: High

Bold values are the worst case: easiest to exploit or largest impact.

Attack Vector: Network: The vulnerable component is bound to the network stack and the set of possible attackers extends beyond the other options listed, up to and including the entire Internet. Such a vulnerability is often termed 'remotely exploitable' and can be thought of as an attack being exploitable at the protocol level one or more network hops away (e.g., across one or more routers).
Attack Complexity: Low: Specialized access conditions or extenuating circumstances do not exist. An attacker can expect repeatable success against the vulnerable component.
Privileges Required: None: The attacker is unauthorized prior to attack, and therefore does not require any access to settings or files to carry out an attack.
User Interaction: Required: Successful exploitation of this vulnerability requires a user to take some action before the vulnerability can be exploited.
Scope: Unchanged: An exploited vulnerability can only affect resources managed by the same security authority. In this case, the vulnerable component and the impacted component are either the same, or both are managed by the same security authority.
Confidentiality: None: There is no loss of confidentiality within the impacted component.
Integrity: None: There is no loss of integrity within the impacted component.
Availability: High: There is total loss of availability, resulting in the attacker being able to fully deny access to resources in the impacted component; this loss is either sustained (while the attacker continues to deliver the attack) or persistent (the condition persists even after the attack has completed). Alternatively, the attacker has the ability to deny some availability, but the loss of availability presents a direct, serious consequence to the impacted component (e.g., the attacker cannot disrupt existing connections, but can prevent new connections; the attacker can repeatedly exploit a vulnerability that, in each instance of a successful attack, leaks a only small amount of memory, but after repeated exploitation causes a service to become completely unavailable).

Definitions: FIRST CVSS v3.1 specification.

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 22 Sep 2022
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponised: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: no evidence on record.
Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by Mirage: no evidence on record.
No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors

A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 26 Oct 2026.

Disclosed: The CVE record is public on cve.org. Its publication is t = 0.
Detectable: A public nuclei template can find exposed instances, for defenders and attackers alike.
Weaponised: Public exploit code exists in Metasploit or Exploit-DB, or CISA SSVC or the CVSS exploit maturity reports a public proof of concept.
Exploited in the wild: CISA KEV lists it, CISA SSVC rates exploitation active, or a source reports attacks.
Observed by OffSeq Mirage: OffSeq Mirage honeypot sensors recorded attack traffic for this CVE, or found exposed hosts without attack traffic.

Moments are spaced evenly, not to scale; a dashed line marks a gap of six months or more. Deltas count from t = 0. Sources that give only a date (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, or a time of exactly 00:00Z) read “same day” rather than hours. Metasploit modules carry the flaw’s disclosure date, not their release date, and nuclei templates carry no date, so both appear above but not on the timeline.

What to do

AI-suggested

Avoid using vulnerable versions of the OTFCC tool or otfccdump until an official patch or update is released. Monitor the project's repository or security advisories for updates.
Implement strict input validation and sanitization for font files before processing them with otfccdump or related tools, especially if files originate from untrusted or external sources.
Employ sandboxing or containerization techniques to isolate the font processing environment, limiting the impact of potential crashes or exploits.
Educate users and developers about the risks of opening or processing untrusted font files and enforce policies to minimize user interaction with potentially malicious files.
Consider alternative font processing tools with active maintenance and security support if OTFCC is critical but unpatched.
Monitor system logs and application behavior for signs of crashes or abnormal activity related to font processing to detect potential exploitation attempts early.

Description

OTFCC commit 617837b was discovered to contain a heap buffer overflow via /release-x64/otfccdump+0x6adb1e.

Impact

For European organizations, the primary impact of CVE-2022-35037 is the potential for denial of service (DoS) attacks against systems that utilize the OTFCC toolchain or otfccdump utility in their font processing workflows. This could disrupt operations in environments where font compilation or inspection is automated or part of a development pipeline, such as graphic design firms, publishing houses, or software development companies dealing with font rendering. Although the vulnerability does not directly compromise confidentiality or integrity, availability impact can cause workflow interruptions and potential financial or reputational damage. Since exploitation requires user interaction, the risk is mitigated somewhat but remains relevant if font files are received from untrusted sources or integrated into automated systems without validation. European organizations relying on open-source font tools or custom font processing pipelines should be aware of this vulnerability. The absence of known exploits reduces immediate risk, but the medium severity score and heap overflow nature warrant proactive mitigation to prevent future exploitation attempts.

Summary

CVE-2022-35037 is a medium severity vulnerability identified as a heap buffer overflow in the OTFCC project, specifically in the otfccdump component at the memory address offset +0x6adb1e. OTFCC (OpenType Font C Compiler) is a tool used for compiling and dumping OpenType font files. The heap buffer overflow occurs when the program improperly handles memory allocation or copying operations, leading to potential overwriting of adjacent memory on the heap. This type of vulnerability can cause application crashes or potentially allow an attacker to execute arbitrary code if exploited correctly. The CVSS 3.1 score of 6.5 reflects that the vulnerability can be exploited remotely over the network without privileges (AV:N/AC:L/PR:N), but requires user interaction (UI:R), and impacts availability (A:H) without affecting confidentiality or integrity. The vulnerability is categorized under CWE-787, which is a common weakness enumeration for out-of-bounds write errors. There are no known exploits in the wild, and no patches or vendor information are provided, indicating that the vulnerability may be in an open-source or less widely tracked project. The lack of affected versions and vendor details suggests limited public information or that the project is niche. The vulnerability could be triggered when a user opens or processes a crafted font file using the vulnerable otfccdump tool, leading to a crash or denial of service. Given the user interaction requirement, exploitation would likely involve social engineering or tricking a user into processing a malicious font file.

CWE-787Out-of-bounds Write (opens in a new tab)
Base weaknessLikelihood of exploit: HighCWE Top 25 (2025): #5
The product writes data past the end, or before the beginning, of the intended buffer.
Requirements · Language Selection
Use a language that does not allow this weakness to occur or provides constructs that make this weakness easier to avoid.
Architecture and Design · Libraries or Frameworks
Use a vetted library or framework that does not allow this weakness to occur or provides constructs that make this weakness easier to avoid.
Operation · Build and Compilation · Environment Hardening
Use automatic buffer overflow detection mechanisms that are offered by certain compilers or compiler extensions. Examples include: the Microsoft Visual Studio /GS flag, Fedora/Red Hat FORTIFY_SOURCE GCC flag, StackGuard, and ProPolice, which provide various mechanisms including canary-based detection and range/index…
OWASP Cheat Sheets
XML Security (opens in a new tab)
Mass Assignment (opens in a new tab)
OWASP ASVS 4.0.3
V13.3.1 (opens in a new tab)
V5.1.4 (opens in a new tab)
V5.1.3 (opens in a new tab)
From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).

References

Community reviews

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 6 Jul 2025, 03:55 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-787

Technical details

References

Community reviews

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