FontforgeApplication

CVE-2025-15276

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.0 Published 2025-12-31
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
81/100
Remediation priority · High
No privileges

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
FontForge SFD File Parsing Deserialization of Untrusted Data Remote Code Execution Vulnerability. This vulnerability allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code on affected installations of FontForge. User interaction is required to exploit this vulnerability in that the target must visit a malicious page or open a malicious file. The specific flaw exists within the parsing of SFD files. The issue results from the lack of proper validation of user-supplied data, which can result in deserialization of untrusted data. An attacker can leverage this vulnerability to execute code in the context of the current process. Was ZDI-CAN-28198.

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

FontForge contains a deserialization vulnerability in its SFD file parser. The application fails to properly validate user-supplied data before deserializing it, allowing an attacker to craft a malicious SFD file that executes arbitrary code when processed by the victim.

MitigationUsers should avoid opening SFD files from untrusted sources. Until a vendor patch is available, consider running FontForge in a sandboxed or isolated environment to limit the impact of potential exploitation.

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
FontforgeApplication
Affected:= 20251009

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
None
User interaction
Required
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/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. Check if FontForge is installed
    Run 'fontforge --version' or 'fontforge -version' in a terminal, or check your system's package manager for installed packages containing 'fontforge'
    Affected if FontForge is not found on the system - not affected
  2. Verify the installed version is 20251009
    Examine the version output from the previous step. Compare it to the affected version range (exact version 20251009)
    Affected if The installed version is exactly 20251009 - potentially affected if SFD files are processed
  3. Confirm SFD file handling capability exists
    Check if the SFD parser module is present in the FontForge installation directory, or attempt to run 'fontforge --help' to list supported file formats
    Affected if SFD format support is enabled and available - the deserialization code path exists
  4. Identify if SFD files are processed in your workflow
    Search for .sfd files on the system using 'find / -name "*.sfd" 2>/dev/null' or check application logs that may reference SFD file operations
    Affected if SFD files exist or are processed by FontForge - attack surface is present

You are affected only if FontForge version 20251009 is installed AND the SFD file parser is enabled and used to process untrusted SFD 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.

From vendor data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Users should avoid opening SFD files from untrusted sources. Until a vendor patch is available, consider running FontForge in a sandboxed or isolated environment to limit the impact of potential exploitation.

Fix this in Fontforge Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation12.0 h
  • Testing8.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
28.0 hours of engineering $4,880
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Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
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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-2025-15276 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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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