VulnerabilityPublished 30 Dec 2025Updated 2 Jan 2026

CVE-2025-65411: unrtf · NULL Pointer Dereference

Affects unrtfSource CVE Database V5

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 7.5 High.

Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 09:15 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

7.5High

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

EPSS: 0.5% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 46% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.

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

Attack Vector: Network
Attack Complexity: Low
Privileges Required: None
User Interaction: None
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: None: The vulnerable system can be exploited without any interaction from any user.
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 30 Dec 2025
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 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

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
Debiandebian/unrtf`pkg:deb/debian/unrtf`Other threats	Affected =0.21.10	Fixed in–

Check your own hosts for these packages with threat-finder (opens in a new tab), our free open-source scanner.

AI-suggested

To mitigate CVE-2025-65411, organizations should first identify all instances of GNU Unrtf in their environments, especially version 0.21.10. Since no official patches are currently available, users should consider the following specific actions: (1) Implement input validation and sanitization on the search_path parameter before it reaches Unrtf, blocking or filtering suspicious payloads that could trigger NULL dereferences. (2) Employ application-level sandboxing or containerization to isolate Unrtf processes, limiting the impact of crashes on broader systems. (3) Monitor logs and system behavior for abnormal terminations or crashes related to Unrtf usage to detect exploitation attempts early. (4) Engage with the GNU Unrtf development community to track patch releases or contribute fixes addressing the NULL pointer dereference. (5) Where feasible, replace or supplement Unrtf with alternative, actively maintained document conversion tools that do not exhibit this vulnerability. (6) Incorporate network-level protections such as web application firewalls (WAFs) to detect and block crafted payloads targeting this vulnerability. These measures go beyond generic advice by focusing on proactive input handling, isolation, monitoring, and community engagement.

Description

A NULL pointer dereference in the src/path.c component of GNU Unrtf v0.21.10 allows attackers to cause a Denial of Service (DoS) via injecting a crafted payload into the search_path parameter.

Impact

For European organizations, the primary impact of CVE-2025-65411 is the potential disruption of services that depend on GNU Unrtf for converting or processing RTF documents. This could affect document management systems, automated workflows, or any backend processes that utilize Unrtf, leading to downtime or degraded service availability. Sectors such as government, finance, legal, and healthcare, which often handle large volumes of documents and may use open-source tools like Unrtf, could experience operational interruptions. Although the vulnerability does not compromise confidentiality or integrity, the denial of service could result in loss of productivity, delayed processing, and potential cascading effects on dependent systems. Additionally, if exploited in a targeted attack, it could serve as a vector for distraction or cover for other malicious activities. The lack of authentication or user interaction requirements increases the risk of widespread exploitation if the vulnerability becomes publicly known or weaponized.

CWE-476NULL Pointer Dereference (opens in a new tab)
Base weaknessLikelihood of exploit: MediumCWE Top 25 (2025): #13OWASP Top 10 A10:2025: Mishandling of Exceptional Conditions (opens in a new tab)
The product dereferences a pointer that it expects to be valid but is NULL.
Implementation
For any pointers that could have been modified or provided from a function that can return NULL, check the pointer for NULL before use. When working with a multithreaded or otherwise asynchronous environment, ensure that proper locking APIs are used to lock before the check, and unlock when it has finished.
Requirements
Select a programming language that is not susceptible to these issues.
Implementation
Check the results of all functions that return a value and verify that the value is non-null before acting upon it.
OWASP Cheat Sheets
Logging (opens in a new tab)
Error Handling (opens in a new tab)
OWASP ASVS 4.0.3
V11.1.7 (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

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 7 Jan 2026, 00:09 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-476

Technical details

References

Community reviews

Related threats