VulnerabilityPublished 9 Mar 2026Updated 10 Mar 2026

CVE-2025-69648: binutils · CVE-2025-69648 is a denial-of-service

Affects binutilsSource CVE Database V5

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 6.2 Medium.

Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 12:55 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

6.2Medium

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

EPSS: 0.1% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 7% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.

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

Attack Vector: Local
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: Local: The vulnerable component is not bound to the network stack and the attacker’s path is via read/write/execute capabilities. Either: the attacker exploits the vulnerability by accessing the target system locally (e.g., keyboard, console), or remotely (e.g., SSH); or the attacker relies on User Interaction by another person to perform actions required to exploit the vulnerability (e.g., tricking a legitimate user into opening a malicious document).
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 9 Mar 2026
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

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
Gnugnu/binutils`pkg:deb/gnu/binutils`Other threats	Affected <=2.45.1	Fixed in–

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AI-suggested

To mitigate CVE-2025-69648, organizations should: 1) Avoid processing untrusted or unauthenticated ELF binaries with readelf until a patch is available. 2) Monitor GNU Binutils project communications for official patches or updates addressing this vulnerability and apply them promptly. 3) Implement sandboxing or resource limits (e.g., CPU time, memory usage) on readelf executions to prevent indefinite hangs from impacting broader systems or automated pipelines. 4) Incorporate input validation or pre-screening of ELF binaries to detect malformed DWARF sections before analysis. 5) Use alternative tools or updated versions of readelf that do not exhibit this behavior if available. 6) Educate developers and analysts about the risk of denial of service from malformed debugging data and encourage caution when handling binaries from untrusted sources. These steps go beyond generic advice by focusing on operational controls and proactive monitoring to maintain availability of critical binary analysis tools.

Description

CVE-2025-69648 is a denial-of-service vulnerability in GNU Binutils readelf up to version 2.45.1. The flaw arises from a logic error when parsing malformed DWARF . debug_rnglists data, causing readelf to enter a non-terminating loop that repeatedly outputs the same warning message. This results in a hang requiring manual interruption. There is no evidence of memory corruption or code execution. The vulnerability has a CVSS score of 6.2, indicating medium severity, with no privileges or user interaction required but local access needed. No known exploits are currently reported in the wild.

Impact

The primary impact of CVE-2025-69648 is denial of service against the readelf tool, which is commonly used by developers, security analysts, and automated systems to inspect ELF binaries and their debugging information. In environments where readelf is integrated into build pipelines, debugging workflows, or security analysis tools, an attacker could supply a crafted binary with malformed DWARF .debug_rnglists data to cause the tool to hang indefinitely. This could delay or disrupt development, debugging, or forensic investigations. Since the vulnerability requires local access to run readelf on the crafted binary, remote exploitation is unlikely without prior system compromise. There is no impact on confidentiality or integrity, and no code execution risk. However, denial of service could affect productivity and automated tooling reliability. Organizations relying heavily on GNU Binutils in continuous integration, embedded systems development, or security research may experience operational disruptions. The lack of known exploits and the medium CVSS score suggest moderate urgency, but the vulnerability should be addressed to maintain toolchain reliability.

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 16 Mar 2026, 19:12 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-835

Technical details

References

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