ElfutilsApplication · Elfutils Project

CVE-2025-1371

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-02-17
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
57/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Zero-click

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
A vulnerability has been found in GNU elfutils 0.192 and classified as problematic. This vulnerability affects the function handle_dynamic_symtab of the file readelf.c of the component eu-read. The manipulation leads to null pointer dereference. Attacking locally is a requirement. The exploit has been disclosed to the public and may be used. The patch is identified as b38e562a4c907e08171c76b8b2def8464d5a104a. It is recommended to apply a patch to fix this issue.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · high confidence

A null pointer dereference vulnerability exists in GNU elfutils 0.192 in the handle_dynamic_symtab function within the eu-read tool (readelf.c). The vulnerability can be triggered locally via specially crafted ELF files, potentially causing a denial of service through application crash.

MitigationApply the provided patch (b38e562a4c907e08171c76b8b2def8464d5a104a) or upgrade to a patched version of elfutils. Given the local attack vector and moderate CVSS score, prioritize patching on systems where untrusted ELF files are processed.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
ElfutilsApplication
Affected:= 0.192

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Verify elfutils is installed
    Run 'which eu-read' or 'which readelf' to locate the tool. Also check for packages using your package manager (dpkg -l | grep elfutils, rpm -qa | grep elfutils, etc.)
    Affected if elfutils binaries (eu-read/readelf) are present on the system
  2. Determine installed elfutils version
    Run 'eu-read --version' or check the package version with your package manager (dpkg -l elfutils, rpm -qi elfutils)
    Affected if The installed version is exactly 0.192
  3. Identify eu-read binary location
    Run 'eu-read --help' to confirm the tool is available and functioning
    Affected if The eu-read binary exists and responds to --version flag
  4. Confirm readelf symlink or binary
    Check if readelf is a symlink to eu-read by running 'ls -la $(which readelf 2>/dev/null)' or checking 'readelf --version'
    Affected if readelf is present and resolves to the elfutils version 0.192

The system is affected if elfutils version 0.192 is installed and eu-read/readelf is used to process ELF files.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

dbcve · scoped
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Apply the provided patch (b38e562a4c907e08171c76b8b2def8464d5a104a) or upgrade to a patched version of elfutils. Given the local attack vector and moderate CVSS score, prioritize patching on systems where untrusted ELF files are processed.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence
  1. 1. Obtain the source code for elfutils version 0.192 from the official sourceware.org repository
  2. 2. Navigate to the eu-read directory and locate the readelf.c file
  3. 3. Apply the patch commit b38e562a4c907e08171c76b8b2def8464d5a104a to fix the null pointer dereference in handle_dynamic_symtab
  4. 4. Rebuild elfutils from the patched source code
  5. 5. Replace the vulnerable eu-read binary with the newly built version

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Elfutils Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation3.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
8.0 hours of engineering $1,420
Get help mitigating

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,272.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2025-1371 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2025-1371 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data