CVE-2025-5641 in Radare2
Summary
by MITRE • 06/05/2025
A vulnerability was found in Radare2 5.9.9. It has been rated as problematic. This issue affects the function r_cons_is_breaked in the library /libr/cons/cons.c of the component radiff2. The manipulation of the argument -T leads to memory corruption. It is possible to launch the attack on the local host. The complexity of an attack is rather high. The exploitation is known to be difficult. The exploit has been disclosed to the public and may be used. The real existence of this vulnerability is still doubted at the moment. The identifier of the patch is 5705d99cc1f23f36f9a84aab26d1724010b97798. It is recommended to apply a patch to fix this issue. The documentation explains that the parameter -T is experimental and "crashy". Further analysis has shown "the race is not a real problem unless you use asan". An additional warning regarding threading support has been added.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 06/23/2025
CVE-2025-5641 represents a memory corruption vulnerability within Radare2 version 5.9.9 that specifically targets the r_cons_is_breaked function in the radiff2 component. This vulnerability manifests through improper handling of the -T command line argument, which when manipulated can lead to unpredictable memory behavior and potential system instability. The flaw exists within the /libr/cons/cons.c library file and demonstrates characteristics consistent with a buffer overflow or memory management error that could be exploited through local execution environments. The vulnerability has been assigned a problematic rating by security analysts, indicating its potential to cause significant disruption to system operations.
The technical nature of this vulnerability aligns with CWE-121, which describes stack-based buffer overflow conditions, and CWE-122, which covers heap-based buffer overflow scenarios. The attack vector requires local execution on the host system, making it a local privilege escalation risk rather than a remote exploit. The complexity level of exploitation is noted as high, suggesting that attackers would need substantial technical expertise to successfully leverage this vulnerability. Security researchers have documented that while the exploit has been publicly disclosed and may be available for use, the actual practical exploitation remains challenging due to the sophisticated nature of the attack requirements.
The exploitation difficulty is compounded by the fact that this vulnerability is associated with experimental parameters, specifically the -T flag which is documented as "crashy" in the software documentation. This experimental nature indicates that the feature was not thoroughly tested for stability under all conditions, creating potential for unexpected behavior when users interact with it. The vulnerability has been addressed through a specific patch identified by the commit hash 5705d99cc1f23f36f9a84aab26d1724010b97798, which likely implements proper input validation and memory boundary checks for the affected function. The patch addresses the root cause by ensuring that the -T parameter is handled safely and does not lead to memory corruption during processing.
Additional security considerations arise from threading implications, as the vulnerability analysis indicates that race conditions may not pose significant problems unless AddressSanitizer (ASAN) is being used. This suggests that the vulnerability's behavior may be influenced by runtime environments and debugging tools, potentially making it more difficult to reproduce consistently. The warning about threading support indicates that developers should be particularly cautious when implementing multi-threaded applications using Radare2, as the vulnerability could manifest differently under concurrent execution scenarios. Organizations should implement the recommended patch immediately to mitigate this risk, as the public disclosure of the exploit increases the likelihood of malicious actors attempting to leverage this weakness in real-world scenarios.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple memory corruption, as it could potentially lead to application crashes, data corruption, or in severe cases, system instability. The local execution requirement means that attackers would need physical access or already have compromised system credentials to exploit this vulnerability effectively. However, given that the software is used for security analysis and reverse engineering activities, the potential for exploitation in environments where Radare2 is widely deployed remains a concern. Security teams should monitor for any reports of successful exploitation attempts and consider implementing additional security controls around the execution of radiff2 with experimental parameters. The vulnerability's classification as potentially difficult to exploit does not diminish its importance, as even complex attacks can be successful if proper security measures are not in place to prevent or detect such attempts.