CVE-2014-9939 in binutils
Summary
by MITRE
ihex.c in GNU Binutils before 2.26 contains a stack buffer overflow when printing bad bytes in Intel Hex objects.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 11/14/2022
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2014-9939 resides within the ihex.c component of GNU Binutils version 2.25 and earlier, representing a critical stack buffer overflow condition that can be exploited through malformed Intel Hex object files. This flaw specifically manifests when the software attempts to process and print error messages for invalid bytes within Intel Hex formatted data, creating a scenario where insufficient bounds checking allows malicious input to overwrite adjacent stack memory regions. The issue stems from improper handling of malformed input data during the parsing of Intel Hex files, which are commonly used for transferring data between different systems and development environments.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability involves a classic stack-based buffer overflow where the program fails to validate the size of input data before copying it into a fixed-size stack buffer. When processing Intel Hex records containing invalid byte sequences, the code attempts to generate diagnostic output by printing these problematic bytes, but does not properly constrain the buffer size, allowing an attacker to supply more data than the allocated stack space can accommodate. This condition creates a predictable memory corruption pattern that can be leveraged to execute arbitrary code or cause denial of service conditions.
From an operational perspective, this vulnerability presents significant risk to systems that process Intel Hex formatted data, particularly in embedded systems development environments, firmware analysis tools, and software development workflows that rely on GNU Binutils for binary file manipulation. The impact extends beyond simple denial of service to potentially enable remote code execution, as demonstrated by the underlying memory corruption that could be exploited by an attacker controlling the input data. The vulnerability affects a wide range of applications including development tools, firmware update systems, and embedded system analysis software that depend on proper handling of Intel Hex file formats.
Security professionals should consider this vulnerability in the context of CWE-121, which specifically addresses stack-based buffer overflow conditions, and its alignment with ATT&CK technique T1059.007 for command and scripting interpreter execution. The vulnerability's exploitation potential increases when considering that many embedded systems and firmware update processes automatically parse Intel Hex files without adequate input validation, making these environments particularly susceptible to attack. Organizations should prioritize updating their GNU Binutils installations to version 2.26 or later, as this release contains the necessary patches to prevent the buffer overflow condition. Additionally, implementing proper input validation and sanitization measures within applications that process Intel Hex data can provide additional defense-in-depth protection against similar vulnerabilities in other components of the software supply chain.
The broader implications of this vulnerability highlight the importance of robust input validation in binary processing tools, particularly those handling structured data formats like Intel Hex which are fundamental to embedded development workflows. System administrators and security teams should conduct comprehensive vulnerability assessments of all systems that may process Intel Hex formatted data, ensuring that both the GNU Binutils components and any custom applications that depend on them have been properly updated to address this memory corruption vulnerability.