NASA CryptoLib up to 1.3.3 Crypto_AOS_ProcessSecurity heap-based overflow

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability identified as critical has been detected in NASA CryptoLib up to 1.3.3. The affected element is the function Crypto_AOS_ProcessSecurity. The manipulation leads to heap-based overflow. This vulnerability is uniquely identified as CVE-2025-29911. The attack is possible to be carried out remotely. No exploit exists.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in NASA CryptoLib up to 1.3.3. It has been rated as very critical. This issue affects the function Crypto_AOS_ProcessSecurity. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a heap-based overflow vulnerability. Using CWE to declare the problem leads to CWE-122. A heap overflow condition is a buffer overflow, where the buffer that can be overwritten is allocated in the heap portion of memory, generally meaning that the buffer was allocated using a routine such as malloc(). Impacted is confidentiality, integrity, and availability. The summary by CVE is:

CryptoLib provides a software-only solution using the CCSDS Space Data Link Security Protocol - Extended Procedures (SDLS-EP) to secure communications between a spacecraft running the core Flight System (cFS) and a ground station. A critical heap buffer overflow vulnerability was identified in the `Crypto_AOS_ProcessSecurity` function of CryptoLib versions 1.3.3 and prior. This vulnerability allows an attacker to trigger a Denial of Service (DoS) or potentially execute arbitrary code (RCE) by providing a maliciously crafted AOS frame with an insufficient length. The vulnerability lies in the function `Crypto_AOS_ProcessSecurity`, specifically during the processing of the Frame Error Control Field (FECF). The affected code attempts to read from the `p_ingest` buffer at indices `current_managed_parameters_struct.max_frame_size - 2` and `current_managed_parameters_struct.max_frame_size - 1` without verifying if `len_ingest` is sufficiently large. This leads to a heap buffer overflow when `len_ingest` is smaller than `max_frame_size`. As of time of publication, no known patched versions exist.

It is possible to read the advisory at github.com. The identification of this vulnerability is CVE-2025-29911 since 03/12/2025. The exploitation is known to be easy. The attack may be initiated remotely. No form of authentication is needed for a successful exploitation. Technical details of the vulnerability are known, but there is no available exploit. The pricing for an exploit might be around USD $0-$5k at the moment (estimation calculated on 03/18/2025).

There is no information about possible countermeasures known. It may be suggested to replace the affected object with an alternative product.

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Productinfo

Vendor

• NASA

Name

• CryptoLib

Version

• 1.3.0
• 1.3.1
• 1.3.2
• 1.3.3

Website

• Product: https://github.com/nasa/CryptoLib/

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