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NVD / CVE Program· CNA VulDB

CVE-2025-8224: GNU Binutils BFD Library elf.c bfd_elf_get_str_section null pointer dereference

Noroxi assessment

Priority: Monitor (action score 7/100)

  • The sources we track (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, Metasploit, Nuclei, GitHub) show no public exploit code or exploitation in the wild.
  • Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days: 0.27% (FIRST EPSS).
  • Someone with local access to the system can trigger it. A low-privileged account is enough. No user action is required. No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.
  • Fixed version: binutils (Alpine:v3.22) 2.44-r0; binutils (Debian:13) 2.43.1-4.
  • Severity is disputed: the assigning authority (CNA) scores it 4.8, NVD 1.9.

Low priority for now. Upgrade to binutils (Alpine:v3.22) 2.44-r0; binutils (Debian:13) 2.43.1-4 or later.

Generated automatically from the record's data: CVSS (NVD and CNA), CISA KEV and SSVC, FIRST EPSS, exploit sources, fixed versions. How we calculate it

Primary sources: NVD · CVE.org · FIRST EPSS

A vulnerability has been found in GNU Binutils 2.44 and classified as problematic. This vulnerability affects the function bfd_elf_get_str_section of the file bfd/elf.c of the component BFD Library. The manipulation leads to null pointer dereference. Local access is required to approach this attack. The exploit has been disclosed to the public and may be used. The name of the patch is db856d41004301b3a56438efd957ef5cabb91530. It is recommended to apply a patch to fix this issue.

LowCVSS 1.9 · v4.0—No exploit Fix available
Published
Jul 27, 2025
Updated
Oct 15, 2026
EPSS
0.2% · 19th percentile

Report tools

JSON

Action score

7

Monitor

Low priority for now.

CVSS
7 / 40 · 1.9 / 10
CISA KEV
0 / 30 · Not listed
EPSS
0 / 30 · 0.2%

CISA SSVC decision

Exploitation
none
Automatable
no
Technical impact
partial

Vulnrichment: CISA's decision-tree inputs.

CNA vs NVD score

NVD
—
CNA · VulDB
4.8
NVD has not scored this yet; the score shown is the CNA’s.

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

The score given by the assigning authority versus NVD’s independent score. A gap means the severity is contested.

Get told when this record changes

  • Not in KEV: no record of exploitation in the wild
  • No public exploit code on record
  • A fix has been released

If any of these changes, we'll tell you in the daily email digest.

Follow CVE-2025-8224

When you'll hear from us

  • when it enters CISA KEV
  • when exploit code appears or is weaponized
  • when the record is updated (including a fixed version)
  • when EPSS rises 20 points in a week

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Noroxi analysis

What does it mean in your environment?

The assessment above is generated automatically from the record's data; it doesn't know your environment. Our team verifies on your systems whether this vulnerability is actually exploitable and which mitigation is enough.

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Affected systems

Is your version affected?

Pick the product and type the version you run. It's compared with this record's version ranges in your browser; the version isn't sent anywhere.

VendorProduct
gnubinutils

Affected versions

NVD version ranges (for catalog products). Add the product to your stack with a version and matching uses these.

  • gnu binutils2.44

Versions reported by the vendor

Affected version ranges reported by the assigning authority (VulDB). Independent of NVD's CPE analysis and usually ahead of it.

  • GNU Binutils

    • 2.44affected

Package-level exposure

OSV and GitHub Advisory data: ecosystem, package and range. SBOM matching uses this table.

EcosystemPackageAffected rangeFix
Alpine:v3.22binutilsbefore 2.44-r02.44-r0
Debian:12binutilsfrom 0—
Debian:13binutilsbefore 2.43.1-42.43.1-4

Same product

gnu: all records

Other highest-scoring records for the same primary product.

  • CVE-2018-12699finish_stab in stabs.c in GNU Binutils 2.30 allows attackers to cause a denial of service (heap-based buffer overflow) or possibly have unsp
    40Plan
  • CVE-2017-7614elflink.c in the Binary File Descriptor (BFD) library (aka libbfd), as distributed in GNU Binutils 2.28, has a "member access within null po
    40Plan
  • CVE-2014-9939ihex.c in GNU Binutils before 2.26 contains a stack buffer overflow when printing bad bytes in Intel Hex objects.
    40Plan

Published before and after this one in the same product

  • ← EarlierCVE-2025-7546Jul 13, 2025 · GNU Binutils elf.c bfd_elf_set_group_contents out-of-bounds write
    7Monitor
  • ← EarlierCVE-2025-8225Jul 27, 2025 · GNU Binutils DWARF Section dwarf.c process_debug_info memory leak
    7Monitor
  • Later →CVE-2025-11081Sep 27, 2025 · GNU Binutils objdump.c dump_dwarf_section out-of-bounds
    7Monitor

Remediation

Which version to upgrade to

Fix versions compiled from the vendor, package registries and Microsoft. Verify the vendor's note before upgrading.

Product / packageFixed versionSource
alpine:binutils2.44-r0 · Alpine:v3.22Package registry (OSV)
debian:binutils2.43.1-4 · Debian:13Package registry (OSV)

Exploit status

No known public exploit

No public exploit has been observed yet. That doesn't mean you're safe, only that the bar is a little higher.

Research context

For pentesters and researchers: attack profile, score disagreement, timeline, patch commits, credits, variant and chain candidates, bug bounty scope. All derived from existing data; no exploit code.

Timeline

From publication to today: proof of concept, Metasploit module, CISA KEV and fix record. Dates are as reported by the sources.

No dated events beyond publication.

No history yet (it accumulates with the daily EPSS job).

Patch and commit links

Commit, PR and diff links among the references. A starting point for patch-diffing and variant hunting; fixes, not exploits.

No commit or PR link among the references.

Finders, reporters and analysts named in the CNA record. Click a name for that researcher’s other records.

Variant candidates

Same product, same weakness class, within 18 months. If the patch missed the root cause, the sibling bug is here.

  • CVE-2026-90802414 days apartGNU Binutils ld libbfd.c bfd_putl64 null pointer dereference
    7Monitor
  • CVE-2026-90828414 days apartGNU Binutils ELF Orphan Section ldelf.c elf_orphan_compatible null pointer dereference
    7Monitor
  • CVE-2026-90829414 days apartGNU Binutils SHT_GROUP Section elf.c bfd_elf_set_group_contents null pointer dereference
    7Monitor
  • CVE-2026-90830414 days apartGNU Binutils Section Merge merge.c _bfd_write_merged_section null pointer dereference
    7Monitor
  • CVE-2026-91781415 days apartGNU Binutils ELF Section elf64-x86-64.c elf_x86_64_common_section_index null pointer dereference
    7Monitor
  • CVE-2026-91782415 days apartGNU Binutils Dynamic Relocation Allocation elfxx-x86.c elf_x86_allocate_dynrelocs null pointer dereference
    7Monitor

Chain candidates

An authentication bypass and a privilege-requiring bug in the same product, published close together: combined they may become an unauthenticated path.

—

Bug bounty scope

No known public program.

Source: bounty-targets-data (public HackerOne, Bugcrowd, Intigriti, YesWeHack listings).

Technical details

Attack conditions

  • Someone with local access to the system can trigger it.
  • A low-privileged account is enough.
  • No user action is required.
  • No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.

If successful

Confidentiality
Integrity
Availability
Attack vector
Local
Attack complexity
Low
Privileges required
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
X

CVSS vector

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/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X

nvd-secondary

Change log

  1. Fix✗ → ✓

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References

All records