LibbiosigApplication · Libbiosig Project

CVE-2025-53853

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-08-25
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Public exploit Remotely reachable No privileges 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 heap-based buffer overflow vulnerability exists in the ISHNE parsing functionality of The Biosig Project libbiosig 3.9.0 and Master Branch (35a819fa). A specially crafted ISHNE ECG annotations file can lead to arbitrary code execution. An attacker can provide a malicious file to trigger this vulnerability.

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 heap-based buffer overflow exists in libbiosig's ISHNE ECG annotation file parser. The parser fails to properly validate bounds when processing malformed ISHNE file data, allowing an attacker-controlled write beyond allocated heap memory boundaries, leading to arbitrary code execution.

MitigationUpdate libbiosig to a patched version that implements proper bounds checking in the ISHNE parser, or sanitize/discard untrusted ISHNE files before processing.

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
LibbiosigApplication
Affected:= 3.9.0

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
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/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. Identify installed libbiosig version
    Run 'pkg-config --modversion libbiosig' or check the library file metadata with 'strings' or 'file' on the installed libbiosig binary. Check header files if compiled from source.
    Affected if The installed version is exactly 3.9.0
  2. Determine if ISHNE parser is available
    Check for the presence of ISHNE-related functions or modules in the libbiosig installation. Look for files or symbols containing 'ISHNE' using 'nm -g libbiosig.so' or 'ldd' listing.
    Affected if ISHNE parser functions are linked and available in the environment
  3. Verify ISHNE file processing capability
    Inspect the application or workflow that uses libbiosig. Check if the code loads ISHNE files via functions like sopen, or check configuration for file type support.
    Affected if The system is capable of parsing ISHNE ECG annotation files
  4. Check for untrusted ISHNE file input
    Audit logs, file processing pipelines, or applications that accept ISHNE files from external or untrusted sources. Search for recent ISHNE file imports.
    Affected if ISHNE files from untrusted or external sources are being processed by the libbiosig library

A system is affected if it runs libbiosig version 3.9.0 and processes ISHNE ECG annotation files, especially from untrusted sources, enabling the heap overflow to trigger during malformed file parsing.

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

Update libbiosig to a patched version that implements proper bounds checking in the ISHNE parser, or sanitize/discard untrusted ISHNE files before processing.

Fix this in Libbiosig Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA3.0 h
21.0 hours of engineering $3,680
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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-2025-53853 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

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What belongs here
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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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