NASA CryptoLib up to 1.4.0 CCSDS Space Data Link Security Protocol heap-based overflow

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability labeled as critical has been found in NASA CryptoLib up to 1.4.0. This impacts an unknown function of the component CCSDS Space Data Link Security Protocol Handler. Executing a manipulation can lead to heap-based overflow. The identification of this vulnerability is CVE-2025-54878. The attack may be launched remotely. There is no exploit available. The affected component should be upgraded.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability has been found in NASA CryptoLib up to 1.4.0 and classified as critical. This vulnerability affects an unknown part of the component CCSDS Space Data Link Security Protocol Handler. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a heap-based overflow vulnerability. The CWE definition for the vulnerability is 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(). As an impact it is known to affect confidentiality, integrity, and availability. CVE summarizes:

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 heap buffer overflow vulnerability exists in NASA CryptoLib version 1.4.0 and prior in the IV setup logic for telecommand frames. The problem arises from missing bounds checks when copying the Initialization Vector (IV) into a freshly allocated buffer. An attacker can supply a crafted TC frame that causes the library to write one byte past the end of the heap buffer, leading to heap corruption and undefined behaviour. An attacker supplying a malformed telecommand frame can corrupt heap memory. This leads to undefined behaviour, which could manifest itself as a crash (denial of service) or more severe exploitation. This issue has been patched in version 1.4.0.

The advisory is shared for download at github.com. This vulnerability was named CVE-2025-54878 since 07/31/2025. The exploitation appears to be easy. The attack can be initiated remotely. No form of authentication is required for a successful exploitation. There are neither technical details nor an exploit publicly available.

Upgrading to version 1.4.1 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch 9b5b294ec09da450d2d4d05aea2db604ead48be1 is able to eliminate this problem. The bugfix is ready for download at github.com. The best possible mitigation is suggested to be upgrading to the latest version.

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Productinfo

Vendor

• NASA

Name

• CryptoLib

Version

• 1.0
• 1.1
• 1.2
• 1.3
• 1.4.0

License

• open-source

Website

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

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