Executive brief
GNU Binutils is a collection of binary tools used by developers to create and manage software programs. A vulnerability in the linker component could allow a local user to cause a program crash (denial of service) when processing specifically crafted files. This primarily affects development environments and automated build systems where untrusted code is compiled or linked.
Technical details
An out-of-bounds read vulnerability exists in GNU Binutils (specifically the 'ld' linker) within the _bfd_x86_elf_late_size_sections function in bfd/elfxx-x86.c. The issue arises because the x86 .eh_frame section may reference the _GLOBAL_OFFSET_TABLE_; if the table is not properly maintained when dynamic sections exist, it can lead to a segmentation fault during the final linking stage. An attacker with local access can exploit this by providing a specially crafted object file to the linker, resulting in a denial of service. A patch has been released in the sourceware repository to ensure the _GLOBAL_OFFSET_TABLE_ is kept when the .eh_frame section is non-empty.
Affected products
- GNU Binutils 2.45, 2.46
Timeline
- 2025-09-28: disclosed: Initial bug report in Sourceware Bugzilla
- 2025-10-02: patched: Fix committed to master branch
- 2025-10-08: advisory: CVE published
References
- https://sourceware.org/bugzilla/attachment.cgi?id=16389
- https://sourceware.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=33499
- https://sourceware.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=33499
- https://sourceware.org/git/gitweb.cgi?p=binutils-gdb.git;h=b6ac5a8a5b82f0ae6a4642c8d7149b325f4cc60a
- https://vuldb.com/?ctiid.327619
- https://vuldb.com/?id.327619
- https://vuldb.com/?submit.668281