This is a vulnerability report sent to us through https://issues.redhat.com/browse/PSIRTSUPT-18741 and was created using the PoC auto-triage agents. It contains hints on the vulnerability extracted by the IA and the full report. ALWAYS review it before any action. Once working on this, don't forget to also update the JSM ticket.

An out-of-bounds write vulnerability was found in the BFD library's DLX ELF backend (bfd/elf32-dlx.c) in GNU binutils. The dlxrtypetohowto() function maps ELF relocation types to internal howto structures but fails to perform adequate bounds checking on attacker-controlled relocation type values (via ELF32RTYPE(rinfo)) before indexing into the dlxelfhowtotable[] array. The DLX relocation type number space is non-contiguous (basic types 0-6, extended types at 0x10000+), but the default case in the switch statement allows arbitrary index values to reach the array access.

A specially crafted ELF/DLX object file can trigger this out-of-bounds write when processed by any BFD-consuming tool (objdump, readelf, strip, ld, nm, objcopy). The vulnerability has been demonstrated to achieve arbitrary code execution via a File Stream Oriented Programming (FSOP) attack against glibc FILE structures (stderr), redirecting control flow to system().

Attack scenarios include CI/CD pipelines performing automated binary analysis, developer workstations running objdump/readelf on untrusted binaries, automated security scanning or malware analysis tools invoking binutils, and package build systems processing third-party code.

Note: This vulnerability is only exploitable when binutils is built with the DLX backend enabled (typically via --enable-targets=all). Manual verification of Red Hat package build configurations is required to confirm affected product scope.

This is a vulnerability report sent to us through https://issues.redhat.com/browse/PSIRTSUPT-18741 and was created using the PoC auto-triage agents. It contains hints on the vulnerability extracted by the IA and the full report. ALWAYS review it before any action. Once working on this, don't forget to also update the JSM ticket.

An out-of-bounds write vulnerability was found in the BFD library's DLX ELF backend (bfd/elf32-dlx.c) in GNU binutils. The dlxrtypetohowto() function maps ELF relocation types to internal howto structures but fails to perform adequate bounds checking on attacker-controlled relocation type values (via ELF32RTYPE(rinfo)) before indexing into the dlxelfhowtotable[] array. The DLX relocation type number space is non-contiguous (basic types 0-6, extended types at 0x10000+), but the default case in the switch statement allows arbitrary index values to reach the array access.

A specially crafted ELF/DLX object file can trigger this out-of-bounds write when processed by any BFD-consuming tool (objdump, readelf, strip, ld, nm, objcopy). The vulnerability has been demonstrated to achieve arbitrary code execution via a File Stream Oriented Programming (FSOP) attack against glibc FILE structures (stderr), redirecting control flow to system().

Attack scenarios include CI/CD pipelines performing automated binary analysis, developer workstations running objdump/readelf on untrusted binaries, automated security scanning or malware analysis tools invoking binutils, and package build systems processing third-party code.

Note: This vulnerability is only exploitable when binutils is built with the DLX backend enabled (typically via --enable-targets=all). Manual verification of Red Hat package build configurations is required to confirm affected product scope.

A flaw was found in binutils. A heap-buffer-overflow vulnerability exists when processing a specially crafted XCOFF (Extended Common Object File Format) object file during linking. A local attacker could trick a user into processing this malicious file, which could lead to arbitrary code execution, allowing the attacker to run unauthorized commands, or cause a denial of service, making the system unavailable.

Heap-buffer-overflow WRITE in xcofflinkaddsymbols() in bfd/xcofflink.c. Triggered by malformed XCOFF object file during linking. Fixed upstream by Alan Modra.

Public reference: https://sourceware.org/bugzilla/showbug.cgi?id=34049 Affects binutils <= 2.46.

GNU Binutils thru 2.46 readelf contains a double free vulnerability when processing a crafted ELF binary with malformed relocation data. During GOT relocation handling, dumprelocations may return early without initializing the allrelocations array. As a result, processgotsectioncontents() may pass an uninitialized rsymbol pointer to free(), leading to a double free and terminating the program with SIGABRT. No evidence of exploitable memory corruption or code execution was observed; the impact is limited to denial of service. NOTE: this is disputed by third parties because the observed behavior occurred only in pre-release code and did not affect any tagged version.

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 displayrelocations(), 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.

A flaw was found in GNU Binutils. This vulnerability, a heap-based buffer overflow, specifically an out-of-bounds read, exists in the bfd linker component. An attacker could exploit this by convincing a user to process a specially crafted malicious XCOFF object file. Successful exploitation may lead to the disclosure of sensitive information or cause the application to crash, resulting in an application level denial of service.

A flaw was found in GNU Binutils. This heap-based buffer overflow vulnerability, specifically an out-of-bounds read in the bfd linker, allows an attacker to gain access to sensitive information. By convincing a user to process a specially crafted XCOFF object file, an attacker can trigger this flaw, potentially leading to information disclosure or an application level denial of service.

An issue was discovered in function dprintcompinner in file cp-demangle.c in BinUtils 2.26 allows attackers to cause a denial of service via crafted PE file.

An issue was discovered in function ddiscriminator in file cp-demangle.c in BinUtils 2.26 allows attackers to cause a denial of service via crafted PE file.

An issue was discovered in function dprintcompinner in file cp-demangle.c in BinUtils 2.26 allows attackers to cause a denial of service via crafted PE file.

A buffer overflow vulnerability in function gnuspecial in file cplus-dem.c in BinUtils 2.26 allows attackers to cause a denial of service via crafted PE file.

An issue was discovered in function dabitags in file cp-demangle.c in BinUtils 2.26 allows attackers to cause a denial of service via crafted PE file.

Heap-based Buffer Overflow in function bfdgetl32 in Binutils objdump 3.37.

An issue was discovered Binutils objdump before 2.39.3 allows attackers to cause a denial of service or other unspecified impacts via function comparesymbols.

An issue was discovered in Binutils addr2line before 2.39.3, function parsemodule contains multiple out of bound reads which may cause a denial of service or other unspecified impacts.

An out-of-bounds read flaw was found in the parsemodule function in bfd/vms-alpha.c in Binutils.

A flaw was discovered in objdump as distributed in GNU Binutils version 2.36. A large section parameter can be passed to avrelf32loadrecordsfromsection() leading to DoS and memory corruption.

Reference: https://sourceware.org/bugzilla/showbug.cgi?id=27294

Upstream patch: https://sourceware.org/git/gitweb.cgi?p=binutils-gdb.git;h=1cfcf3004e1830f8fe9112cfcd15285508d2c2b7

A flaw was discovered in GNU libiberty within demanglepath() in rust-demangle.c, as distributed in GNU Binutils version 2.36. A crafted symbol can cause stack memory to be exhausted leading to a crash.

REJECT Non Security Issue. See the binutils security policy for more details, https://sourceware.org/cgit/binutils-gdb/tree/binutils/SECURITY.txt

A flaw was found in binutils readelf 2.35 program. An attacker who is able to convince a victim using readelf to read a crafted file could trigger a stack buffer overflow, out-of-bounds write of arbitrary data supplied by the attacker. The highest impact of this flaw is to confidentiality, integrity, and availability.

An issue was discovered in GNU libiberty, as distributed in GNU Binutils 2.32. It is a heap-based buffer over-read in dexpression1 in cp-demangle.c after many recursive calls.

An issue was discovered in the Binary File Descriptor (BFD) library (aka libbfd), as distributed in GNU Binutils 2.32. It is a heap-based buffer overflow in bfdarchive64bitslurparmap in archive64.c.

An issue was discovered in GNU Binutils 2.32. It is a heap-based buffer overflow in processmipsspecific in readelf.c via a malformed MIPS option section.

A memory leak was found in the demangletemplate function in GNU libiberty, as distributed in GNU Binutils. A crafted filed could cause the application to crash.

Upstream issue:

https://gcc.gnu.org/bugzilla/showbug.cgi?id=88539

An integer overflow was found in objdump, bfdgetdynamicrelocupperbound and bfdcanonicalizedynamicreloc functions of binutils. A local attacker could use this to crash the application or potentially achieve code execution.

Upstream issue:

https://sourceware.org/bugzilla/showbug.cgi?id=23994

Upstream patch:

https://sourceware.org/git/gitweb.cgi?p=binutils-gdb.git;h=3a551c7a1b80fca579461774860574eabfd7f18f

An issue was discovered in the Binary File Descriptor (BFD) library (aka libbfd), as distributed in GNU Binutils through 2.31. There is a heap-based buffer overflow in bfdelf32swapphdrin in elfcode.h because the number of program headers is not restricted.

Last updated 18 August 2025

Last updated 24 July 2024

A flaw was found in in GNU libiberty, as distributed in GNU Binutils 2.30. A NULL pointer dereference (aka SEGV on unknown address 0x000000000000) was discovered in workstuffcopytofrom in cplus-dem.c.

References: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/binutils/+bug/1763102 https://gcc.gnu.org/bugzilla/showbug.cgi?id=85454 https://sourceware.org/bugzilla/showbug.cgi?id=23057