VulnerabilityPublished 27 Jul 2025Updated 28 Jul 2025

CVE-2025-8225: GNU Binutils · Memory Leak

Affects GNU BinutilsSource CVE Database V5

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 4.8 Medium.

Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 08:30 UTC

CVSS 4.0 base score

4.8Medium

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

EPSS: 0.2% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 16% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.

CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:L/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:P

Base metrics

Attack Vector: Local
Attack Complexity: Low
Attack Requirements: None
Privileges Required: Low
User Interaction: None
Vulnerable system confidentiality: None
Vulnerable system integrity: None
Vulnerable system availability: Low
Subsequent system confidentiality: None
Subsequent system integrity: None
Subsequent system availability: None

Threat metrics

Exploit Maturity: POC

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

Attack Vector: Local: The vulnerable system 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 through terminal emulation (e.g., SSH); or the attacker relies on User Interaction by another person to perform actions required to exploit the vulnerability (e.g., using social engineering techniques to trick a legitimate user into opening a malicious document).
Attack Complexity: Low: The attacker must take no measurable action to exploit the vulnerability. The attack requires no target-specific circumvention to exploit the vulnerability. An attacker can expect repeatable success against the vulnerable system.
Attack Requirements: None: The successful attack does not depend on the deployment and execution conditions of the vulnerable system. The attacker can expect to be able to reach the vulnerability and execute the exploit under all or most instances of the vulnerability.
Privileges Required: Low: The attacker requires privileges that provide basic capabilities that are typically limited to settings and resources owned by a single low-privileged user. Alternatively, an attacker with Low privileges has the ability to access only non-sensitive resources.
User Interaction: None: The vulnerable system can be exploited without interaction from any human user, other than the attacker.
Vulnerable system confidentiality: None: There is no loss of confidentiality within the Vulnerable System.
Vulnerable system integrity: None: There is no loss of integrity within the Vulnerable System.
Vulnerable system availability: Low: Performance is reduced or there are interruptions in resource availability. Even if repeated exploitation of the vulnerability is possible, the attacker does not have the ability to completely deny service to legitimate users. The resources in the Vulnerable System are either partially available all of the time, or fully available only some of the time, but overall there is no direct, serious consequence to the Vulnerable System.
Subsequent system confidentiality: None: There is no loss of confidentiality within the Subsequent System or all confidentiality impact is constrained to the Vulnerable System.
Subsequent system integrity: None: There is no loss of integrity within the Subsequent System or all integrity impact is constrained to the Vulnerable System.
Subsequent system availability: None: There is no impact to availability within the Subsequent System or all availability impact is constrained to the Vulnerable System.
Exploit Maturity: POC: Based on threat intelligence sources each of the following must apply: · Proof-of-concept is publicly available · No knowledge of reported attempts to exploit this vulnerability · No knowledge of publicly available solutions used to simplify attempts to exploit the vulnerability

Definitions: FIRST CVSS v4.0 specification.

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 27 Jul 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
GNU Binutils	Affected =2.44	Fixed in–

AI-suggested

European organizations should prioritize patching GNU Binutils to version 2.44 or later where the fix commit e51fdff7d2e538c0e5accdd65649ac68e6e0ddd4 is applied. Specific mitigation steps include: 1) Auditing all development and build systems to identify installations of Binutils 2.44 and upgrading them promptly. 2) Restricting local access to trusted users only, employing strict access controls and monitoring to detect unauthorized local activity. 3) Implementing resource usage monitoring on build servers and developer workstations to detect abnormal memory consumption patterns that could indicate exploitation attempts. 4) Integrating vulnerability scanning tools that can detect the presence of vulnerable Binutils versions as part of regular security assessments. 5) Educating developers and system administrators about the vulnerability and the importance of applying patches to prevent potential denial of service conditions. 6) Considering containerization or sandboxing of build environments to limit the impact of any local exploitation attempts.

Description

A vulnerability was found in GNU Binutils 2.44 and classified as problematic. This issue affects the function process_debug_info of the file binutils/dwarf.c of the component DWARF Section Handler. The manipulation leads to memory leak. Attacking locally is a requirement. The identifier of the patch is e51fdff7d2e538c0e5accdd65649ac68e6e0ddd4. It is recommended to apply a patch to fix this issue.

Impact

For European organizations, the impact of CVE-2025-8225 is generally limited but should not be overlooked. GNU Binutils is widely used in software development, embedded systems, and Linux-based environments common in European enterprises and research institutions. A memory leak can degrade system performance or cause denial of service conditions if debug information processing is performed extensively or in automated build pipelines. While the vulnerability requires local access, it could be leveraged by an attacker who has already compromised a low-privilege account to escalate resource consumption, potentially disrupting development operations or continuous integration systems. Critical infrastructure or organizations with stringent uptime requirements may experience operational impacts if this vulnerability is exploited in internal environments. However, the lack of remote exploitability and no requirement for user interaction reduce the likelihood of widespread exploitation. The absence of known exploits in the wild further lowers immediate risk but underscores the importance of patching to prevent future abuse.

References

Community reviews

Loading reviews…

Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 4 Aug 2025, 00:58 UTC

Technical details

References

Community reviews

Related threats