CVE-2025-53012 in MaterialX
Summary
by MITRE • 08/01/2025
MaterialX is an open standard for the exchange of rich material and look-development content across applications and renderers. In version 1.39.2, nested imports of MaterialX files can lead to a crash via stack memory exhaustion, due to the lack of a limit on the "import chain" depth. When parsing file imports, recursion is used to process nested files; however, there is no limit imposed to the depth of files that can be parsed by the library. By building a sufficiently deep chain of MaterialX files one referencing the next, it is possible to crash the process using the MaterialX library via stack exhaustion. This is fixed in version 1.39.3.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 08/21/2025
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2025-53012 affects MaterialX, an open standard designed for exchanging rich material and look-development content across various applications and renderers. This security flaw specifically targets version 1.39.2 of the library and stems from insufficient safeguards against recursive file processing. The issue manifests when MaterialX files contain nested imports that reference other MaterialX files in a chain-like structure, creating a recursive parsing scenario that can exhaust available stack memory resources.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability relies on the library's handling of file imports through recursive processing mechanisms. When the MaterialX parser encounters an import statement, it recursively processes the referenced file, continuing this pattern for each nested import encountered. The absence of any depth limitation or recursion limit within the parsing logic creates an exploitable condition where an attacker can construct a deeply nested chain of MaterialX files. Each recursive call consumes stack space, and without bounds enforcement, a sufficiently deep chain will eventually exhaust the available stack memory, leading to a crash or process termination.
This vulnerability represents a classic stack overflow condition that falls under the CWE-674 weakness category, specifically addressing "Uncontrolled Recursion" within software systems. The operational impact extends beyond simple denial of service, as it can potentially be exploited to disrupt critical rendering workflows in production environments where MaterialX is used for material and look-development content. The crash occurs during the parsing phase, meaning that any application utilizing the MaterialX library for file processing becomes susceptible to this attack vector, particularly those handling user-provided or third-party MaterialX content.
The mitigation strategy involves implementing a maximum recursion depth limit within the MaterialX library's import processing logic. This approach aligns with established security practices for preventing stack exhaustion attacks and corresponds to the remediation implemented in version 1.39.3. Security-conscious implementations should also consider additional safeguards such as resource monitoring and timeout mechanisms to prevent similar issues in other recursive parsing scenarios. The fix demonstrates proper defensive programming principles that align with the ATT&CK framework's approach to preventing execution of malicious code through resource exhaustion techniques, specifically addressing the T1499.004 sub-technique related to resource exhaustion attacks. Organizations using MaterialX should prioritize updating to version 1.39.3 or later to eliminate this vulnerability, as the recursive import functionality remains a legitimate feature that must be preserved while ensuring proper bounds checking is enforced.