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CVE-2025-69651VulnerabilityPublished Updated

GNU Binutils thru 2.46 readelf contains a vulnerability that leads to an invalid pointer free when processing a crafted ELF binary with malformed relocation or symbol data

Affects binutilsSource GCVE Database

0
Authoritative record:CVE-2025-69651· Medium 5.5

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 5.5 Medium.

Data as of 28 Oct 2026, 22:28 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score
5.5Medium
How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

Exploitation evidence

  1. Disclosed: evidence found.

    CVE published 6 Mar 2026

  2. Detectable: no evidence on record.

    No public nuclei template indexed

  3. Weaponised: no evidence on record.

    No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB

  4. Exploited in the wild: no evidence on record.

    Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation

  5. Observed by OffSeq 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.

What to do

Affected software

ProductAffectedFixed in
Ubuntu 25.10binutilspkg:deb/ubuntu/binutils?arch=source&distro=questingOther threatsAffected
  • 2.44-3ubuntu1 – 2.45-7ubuntu1.2
11 affected builds
Fixed in–
Ubuntu 24.04 LTSbinutilspkg:deb/ubuntu/binutils?arch=source&distro=nobleOther threatsAffected
  • 2.41-5ubuntu1 – 2.42-4ubuntu2.10
17 affected builds
Fixed in–
Ubuntu 22.04 LTSbinutilspkg:deb/ubuntu/binutils?arch=source&distro=jammyOther threatsAffected
  • 2.37-7ubuntu1 – 2.38-4ubuntu2.12
21 affected builds
Fixed in–
Ubuntu Pro 20.04 LTSbinutilspkg:deb/ubuntu/binutils?arch=source&distro=esm-infra/focalOther threatsAffected
  • 2.33-2ubuntu1 – 2.34-6ubuntu1.11+esm2
23 affected builds
Fixed in–
Ubuntu Pro 18.04 LTSbinutilspkg:deb/ubuntu/binutils?arch=source&distro=esm-infra/bionicOther threatsAffected
  • 2.29.1-4ubuntu1 – 2.30-21ubuntu1~18.04.9+esm13
30 affected builds
Fixed in–
Ubuntu Pro 16.04 LTSbinutilspkg:deb/ubuntu/binutils?arch=source&distro=esm-infra/xenialOther threatsAffected
  • 2.25.1-6ubuntu1 – 2.26.1-1ubuntu1~16.04.8+esm14
42 affected builds
Fixed in–

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Description

GNU Binutils thru 2.46 readelf contains a vulnerability that leads to an invalid pointer free when processing a crafted ELF binary with malformed relocation or symbol data. If dump_relocations returns early due to parsing errors, the internal all_relocations array may remain partially uninitialized. Later, process_got_section_contents() may attempt to free an invalid r_symbol pointer, triggering memory corruption checks in glibc and causing the program to terminate with SIGABRT. No evidence of further memory corruption or code execution was observed; the impact is limited to denial of service. NOTE: this is disputed by third parties because the observed behavior occurred only in pre-release code and did not affect any tagged version.

References

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