CVE-2018-25220
Published: 28 March 2026
Summary
CVE-2018-25220 is a critical-severity Out-of-bounds Write (CWE-787) vulnerability in Bochs Project Bochs. Its CVSS base score is 9.3 (Critical).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploit Public-Facing Application (T1190); ranked at the 45.8th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog; a public proof-of-concept is referenced.
The strongest mitigations our analysis identified are NIST 800-53 SI-10 (Information Input Validation) and SI-16 (Memory Protection).
Deeper analysis
CVE-2018-25220 is a stack-based buffer overflow vulnerability (CWE-787) in Bochs version 2.6-5, an open-source IA-32 (x86) PC emulator. The flaw occurs when the application processes an oversized input string, leading to a buffer overflow that enables attackers to execute arbitrary code.
The vulnerability carries a CVSS v3.1 base score of 9.8 (AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H), marking it as critical with network accessibility, low complexity, and no privileges or user interaction required. Any remote attacker can supply a malicious payload—such as 1200 bytes of padding followed by a return-oriented programming (ROP) chain—to overwrite the instruction pointer, achieving arbitrary code execution and running shell commands with the application's privileges.
Advisories and references, including the Bochs SourceForge site (http://bochs.sourceforge.net/), an Exploit-DB entry (https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/43979), and a VulnCheck advisory (https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/bochs-5-buffer-overflow-remote-code-execution), document the issue and provide details on the remote code execution vector, with a public exploit available.
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2018-21698
Vulnerability details
Bochs 2.6-5 contains a stack-based buffer overflow vulnerability that allows attackers to execute arbitrary code by supplying an oversized input string to the application. Attackers can craft a malicious payload with 1200 bytes of padding followed by a return-oriented programming…
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chain to overwrite the instruction pointer and execute shell commands with application privileges.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise TechniquesAI
Why these techniques?
Stack-based buffer overflow enables remote unauthenticated arbitrary code execution against a network-accessible application (Bochs emulator).
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI
Directly prevents stack-based buffer overflows by enforcing validation of input strings to reject oversized payloads.
Mitigates exploitation of stack buffer overflows through memory protections like stack canaries, ASLR, and DEP that thwart ROP chain execution.
Eliminates the vulnerability by requiring timely flaw remediation, such as patching Bochs to fix the buffer overflow handling.