CVE-2025-15281
Description
A flaw was found in glibc. When the wordexp function is called with the flags WRDE_REUSE and WRDE_APPEND, it may return uninitialized memory. If the caller inspects the we_wordv array or calls the wordfree function to free the allocated memory, the process will abort, resulting in a denial of service.
Statement
To exploit this issue, an attacker needs to find an application linked to the glibc library that is using the wordexp function with the flags WRDE_REUSE and WRDE_APPEND. Also, calls to wordexp using both flags never worked correctly and thus the existence of applications that make use of this feature is unlikely. There is no known application vulnerable to this issue.
Furthermore, this flaw will result in a denial of service with no other security impact.
Due to these reasons, this vulnerability has been rated with a low severity.
Mitigation
To mitigate this issue, consider refactoring the use of the wordexp function to not use the WRDE_REUSE and WRDE_APPEND flags together.
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 | 5.9 | N/A | 7.5 |
| Attack Vector | Network | N/A | Network |
| Attack Complexity | High | N/A | Low |
| Privileges Required | None | N/A | None |
| User Interaction | None | N/A | None |
| Scope | Unchanged | N/A | Unchanged |
| Confidentiality | None | N/A | None |
| Integrity Impact | None | N/A | None |
| Availability Impact | High | N/A | High |
Vector
Red Hat: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
cve.org: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Understanding the Weakness (CWE)
Confidentiality
Technical Impact: Read Memory; Read Application Data
When reusing a resource such as memory or a program variable, the original contents of that resource may not be cleared before it is sent to an untrusted party.
Availability
Technical Impact: DoS: Crash, Exit, or Restart
The uninitialized resource may contain values that cause program flow to change in ways that the programmer did not intend.
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