CVE-2025-15661
Description
A flaw in libssh2's sftp_symlink() function allows a malicious SSH server or man-in-the-middle attacker to trigger an out-of-bounds heap read via a crafted SSH_FXP_NAME response. This can disclose heap memory contents or crash the application, causing a denial of service (DoS).
Statement
This Moderate-impact out-of-bounds heap read flaw in libssh2 allows a malicious SSH server or man-in-the-middle attacker to crash the application (DoS) or disclose heap memory by sending a crafted SFTP response.
Mitigation
Implement strict network egress filtering to allow outbound SSH/SFTP traffic only to known, trusted endpoints. Additionally, enforce strict SSH host key checking in your libssh2 client applications to reject unknown servers and prevent Man-in-the-Middle (MitM) attacks.
Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) Score Details
Info alert:Important note
CVSS scores for open source components depend on vendor-specific factors (e.g. version or build chain). Therefore, Red Hat's score and impact rating can be different from NVD and other vendors. Red Hat remains the authoritative CVE Naming Authority (CNA) source for its products and services (see Red Hat classifications).
CVSS v3 Score Breakdown
| Red Hat | NVD | cve.org | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Base Score | 6.5 | 6.5 | 6.5 |
| Attack Vector | Network | Network | Network |
| Attack Complexity | High | High | High |
| Privileges Required | None | None | None |
| User Interaction | None | None | None |
| Scope | Unchanged | Unchanged | Unchanged |
| Confidentiality | Low | Low | Low |
| Integrity Impact | None | None | None |
| Availability Impact | High | High | High |
Vector
Red Hat: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:H
NVD: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:H
cve.org: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:H
Understanding the Weakness (CWE)
Confidentiality
Technical Impact: Read Memory
An attacker could get secret values such as cryptographic keys, PII, memory addresses, or other information that could be used in additional attacks.
Confidentiality
Technical Impact: Bypass Protection Mechanism
Out-of-bounds memory could contain memory addresses or other information that can be used to bypass ASLR and other protection mechanisms in order to improve the reliability of exploiting a separate weakness for code execution.
Availability
Technical Impact: DoS: Crash, Exit, or Restart
An attacker could cause a segmentation fault or crash by causing memory to be read outside of the bounds of the buffer. This is especially likely when the code reads a variable amount of data and assumes that a sentinel exists to stop the read operation, such as a NUL in a string.
Other
Technical Impact: Varies by Context
The read operation could produce other undefined or unexpected results.
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