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LibbiosigApplication · Libbiosig Project

CVE-2025-54488

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-08-25
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 3.9.1 or later.
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 stack-based buffer overflow vulnerability exists in the MFER parsing functionality of The Biosig Project libbiosig 3.9.0 and Master Branch (35a819fa). A specially crafted MFER file can lead to arbitrary code execution. An attacker can provide a malicious file to trigger this vulnerability.This vulnerability manifests on line 8850 of biosig.c on the current master branch (35a819fa), when the Tag is 13: else if (tag==13) { if (len>8) fprintf(stderr,"Warning MFER tag13 incorrect length %i>8\n",len); curPos += ifread(&buf,1,len,hdr);

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 · moderate confidence

A stack-based buffer overflow in libbiosig's MFER file parser allows arbitrary code execution when processing a malicious MFER file with tag value 13. The vulnerability occurs at line 8850 of biosig.c where the code reads up to 'len' bytes into a fixed-size buffer without properly validating that 'len' does not exceed the buffer size, despite printing a warning when len>8.

MitigationImplement proper bounds checking before the ifread() call to ensure 'len' does not exceed the allocated buffer size; reject or truncate MFER files with invalid tag lengths.

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:< 3.9.1

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 libbiosig installation and version
    Locate the libbiosig library on the system and query its version (e.g., via library file metadata, package manager, or binary version info). Compare the version number to the affected range: versions prior to 3.9.1 are vulnerable.
    Affected if Installed version is libbiosig < 3.9.1
  2. Determine if MFER parsing support is enabled
    Check the build configuration or compilation flags for libbiosig to see if MFER file format support was included at build time. Look for MFER-related build options or modules.
    Affected if MFER support is enabled in the libbiosig build configuration
  3. Locate MFER files in the environment
    Search for files with .mfer extension or files that match MFER format signatures in directories where biological signal data is stored.
    Affected if MFER files exist in the environment and are processed by the vulnerable library
  4. Inspect the vulnerable code path in biosig.c
    If source code is available, examine biosig.c around line 8850 to verify the vulnerability exists: look for the Tag 13 parsing logic and confirm the ifread() call uses a fixed-size buffer without bounds checking on the 'len' variable.
    Affected if The source code at biosig.c line 8850 lacks bounds checking before reading 'len' bytes into a fixed buffer

A system is affected if it runs libbiosig version < 3.9.1 with MFER file parsing enabled and processes MFER files, allowing the unbounded read at Tag 13 to overflow the fixed-size buffer.

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
Upgrade available Upgrade to 3.9.1 or later
Fixed in 3.9.1
Interim mitigation

Implement proper bounds checking before the ifread() call to ensure 'len' does not exceed the allocated buffer size; reject or truncate MFER files with invalid tag lengths.

Recommended fix High confidence

libbiosig 3.9.1

  1. 1. Identify all systems and applications that use the libbiosig library
  2. 2. Check the current installed version of libbiosig (versions prior to 3.9.1 are affected)
  3. 3. Obtain libbiosig version 3.9.1 or later from the official source (https://biosig.sourceforge.net/)
  4. 4. Replace the vulnerable libbiosig library binary with the updated version
  5. 5. Rebuild or recompile any applications that statically link to libbiosig
  6. 6. Re-test MFER file parsing functionality to ensure normal operation

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

Fix this in Libbiosig Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing8.0 h
  • Review / QA3.0 h
21.0 hours of engineering $3,620
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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-2025-54488 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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