GNU Binutils up to 2.46 readelf display_relocations null pointer dereference

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability was found in GNU Binutils up to 2.46. It has been rated as problematic. This vulnerability affects the function display_relocations of the component readelf. The manipulation leads to null pointer dereference. This vulnerability is uniquely identified as CVE-2025-69649. Local access is required to approach this attack. No exploit exists.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability, which was classified as problematic, has been found in GNU Binutils up to 2.46. This issue affects the function display_relocations of the component readelf. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a null pointer dereference vulnerability. Using CWE to declare the problem leads to CWE-476. A NULL pointer dereference occurs when the application dereferences a pointer that it expects to be valid, but is NULL, typically causing a crash or exit. Impacted is availability. The summary by CVE is:

GNU Binutils thru 2.46 readelf contains a null pointer dereference vulnerability when processing a crafted ELF binary with malformed header fields. During relocation processing, an invalid or null section pointer may be passed into display_relocations(), resulting in a segmentation fault (SIGSEGV) and abrupt termination. No evidence of memory corruption beyond the null pointer dereference, nor any possibility of code execution, was observed.

The advisory is shared at sourceware.org. The identification of this vulnerability is CVE-2025-69649 since 01/09/2026. The exploitation is known to be easy. An attack has to be approached locally. Technical details are known, but no exploit is available.

The vulnerability scanner Nessus provides a plugin with the ID 301398 (Linux Distros Unpatched Vulnerability : CVE-2025-69649), 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 (301398). If you want to get the best quality for vulnerability data then you always have to consider VulDB.

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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CVSSv2info

Exploitinginfo

Threat Intelligenceinfo

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Timelineinfo

Sourcesinfo

Entryinfo

If you want to get the best quality for vulnerability data then you always have to consider VulDB.

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