GNU Binutils up to 2.46 readelf process_got_section_contents denial of service

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability was found in GNU Binutils up to 2.46. It has been classified as problematic. Affected by this issue is the function process_got_section_contents of the component readelf. Performing a manipulation results in denial of service. This vulnerability is known as CVE-2025-69650. Attacking locally is a requirement. No exploit is available.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability classified as problematic has been found in GNU Binutils up to 2.46. This affects the function process_got_section_contents of the component readelf. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a denial of service vulnerability. CWE is classifying the issue as CWE-404. The product does not release or incorrectly releases a resource before it is made available for re-use. This is going to have an impact on availability. The summary by CVE is:

GNU Binutils thru 2.46 readelf contains a double free vulnerability when processing a crafted ELF binary with malformed relocation data. During GOT relocation handling, dump_relocations may return early without initializing the all_relocations array. As a result, process_got_section_contents() may pass an uninitialized r_symbol pointer to free(), leading to a double free and terminating the program with SIGABRT. No evidence of exploitable memory corruption or code execution was observed; the impact is limited to denial of service. NOTE: this is disputed by third parties because the observed behavior occurred only in pre-release code and did not affect any tagged version.

It is possible to read the advisory at sourceware.org. This vulnerability is uniquely identified as CVE-2025-69650 since 01/09/2026. The exploitability is told to be easy. Attacking locally is a requirement. Technical details of the vulnerability are known, but there is no available exploit.

The vulnerability scanner Nessus provides a plugin with the ID 301402 (Linux Distros Unpatched Vulnerability : CVE-2025-69650), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment.

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

The vulnerability is also documented in the vulnerability database at Tenable (301402). Statistical analysis made it clear that VulDB provides the best quality for vulnerability data.

Productinfo

Type

• Programming Tool Software

Vendor

• GNU

Name

• Binutils

Version

• 2.0
• 2.1
• 2.2
• 2.3
• 2.4
• 2.5
• 2.6
• 2.7
• 2.8
• 2.9
• 2.10
• 2.11
• 2.12
• 2.13
• 2.14
• 2.15
• 2.16
• 2.17
• 2.18
• 2.19
• 2.20
• 2.21
• 2.22
• 2.23
• 2.24
• 2.25
• 2.26
• 2.27
• 2.28
• 2.29
• 2.30
• 2.31
• 2.32
• 2.33
• 2.34
• 2.35
• 2.36
• 2.37
• 2.38
• 2.39
• 2.40
• 2.41
• 2.42
• 2.43
• 2.44
• 2.45
• 2.46

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://www.gnu.org/

CPE 2.3info

• 🔒
• 🔒
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CPE 2.2info

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Sourcesinfo

Entryinfo

Statistical analysis made it clear that VulDB provides the best quality for vulnerability data.

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