Skip to main content

CVE-2025-46400: NULL Pointer Dereference

Medium
VulnerabilityCVE-2025-46400cvecve-2025-46400
Published: Wed Apr 23 2025 (04/23/2025, 20:55:17 UTC)
Source: CVE

Description

In xfig diagramming tool, a segmentation fault while running fig2dev allows an attacker to availability via local input manipulation via read_arcobject function.

AI-Powered Analysis

AILast updated: 07/06/2025, 04:40:25 UTC

Technical Analysis

CVE-2025-46400 is a vulnerability identified in the xfig diagramming tool, specifically triggered during the execution of the fig2dev utility. The flaw arises from a NULL pointer dereference within the read_arcobject function, which leads to a segmentation fault. This fault results in a denial of service condition, impacting the availability of the affected system. The vulnerability requires local input manipulation, meaning an attacker must have local access to the system to exploit it. The CVSS v3.1 base score is 4.7, indicating a medium severity level. The attack vector is local (AV:L), with high attack complexity (AC:H), no privileges required (PR:N), and requires user interaction (UI:R). The scope remains unchanged (S:U), with no impact on confidentiality (C:N) or availability (A:N), but an integrity impact is noted (I:H), which suggests that the vulnerability could potentially alter data or system state during exploitation. However, the description primarily emphasizes availability impact via segmentation fault. No known exploits are currently reported in the wild, and no patches or vendor advisories are linked, indicating that mitigation may require manual intervention or updates once available. The vulnerability affects version '0' of the software, which likely refers to an early or specific release of xfig or fig2dev. Overall, this vulnerability can cause local denial of service by crashing the fig2dev process when processing crafted input files, potentially disrupting workflows that rely on this tool for diagram conversion or rendering.

Potential Impact

For European organizations, the impact of CVE-2025-46400 is primarily related to availability disruption of the xfig diagramming tool's fig2dev utility. Organizations that rely on xfig for technical documentation, academic research, or engineering diagrams may experience interruptions in their document processing pipelines. Since exploitation requires local access and user interaction, the risk is limited to insider threats or scenarios where an attacker has gained local foothold. The integrity impact suggests potential alteration of data during exploitation, which could affect the correctness of diagram outputs or related files. However, the lack of remote exploitability and absence of known active exploits reduce the immediate threat level. Nonetheless, in environments where xfig is integrated into automated workflows or used by multiple users on shared systems, repeated crashes could lead to denial of service conditions, impacting productivity. European organizations with strict availability requirements or those in sectors like engineering, academia, or publishing that utilize xfig may need to consider this vulnerability in their risk assessments.

Mitigation Recommendations

Given the local and user-interaction requirements, mitigation should focus on limiting local access to trusted users and enforcing strict user permissions on systems running xfig and fig2dev. Organizations should monitor for updates or patches from the xfig maintainers or relevant Linux distribution vendors and apply them promptly once available. In the interim, consider restricting the use of fig2dev to trusted input files and avoid processing untrusted or user-supplied diagram files. Employ application whitelisting and sandboxing techniques to contain potential crashes and prevent escalation. Additionally, implement monitoring to detect repeated crashes or abnormal behavior of fig2dev processes, which could indicate exploitation attempts. Regular backups of critical diagram files and documentation can mitigate data integrity concerns. Finally, educating users about the risks of processing untrusted files with fig2dev can reduce inadvertent exploitation.

Need more detailed analysis?Get Pro

Technical Details

Data Version
5.1
Assigner Short Name
redhat
Date Reserved
2025-04-23T20:32:36.307Z
Cisa Enriched
false
Cvss Version
3.1
State
PUBLISHED

Threat ID: 682cd0fb1484d88663aec804

Added to database: 5/20/2025, 6:59:07 PM

Last enriched: 7/6/2025, 4:40:25 AM

Last updated: 8/11/2025, 4:37:40 PM

Views: 12

Actions

PRO

Updates to AI analysis are available only with a Pro account. Contact root@offseq.com for access.

Please log in to the Console to use AI analysis features.

Need enhanced features?

Contact root@offseq.com for Pro access with improved analysis and higher rate limits.

Latest Threats