CVE-2019-25695
Published: 12 April 2026
Summary
CVE-2019-25695 is a high-severity Out-of-bounds Write (CWE-787) vulnerability in R Project (inferred from references). Its CVSS base score is 8.6 (High).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploitation for Client Execution (T1203); ranked at the 8.7th 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-2019-25695 is a local buffer overflow vulnerability (CWE-787) in R 3.4.4, affecting the GUI Preferences "Language for menus and messages" field. This flaw enables attackers to execute arbitrary code by injecting malicious input into the field. The vulnerability carries a CVSS v3.1 base score of 8.4 (AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H).
A local attacker can exploit this vulnerability with low complexity and no privileges or user interaction required. By crafting a payload featuring a 292-byte offset and a JMP ESP instruction, the attacker pastes it into the language field, triggering a buffer overflow that leads to arbitrary code execution, such as launching calc.exe.
Advisories and references, including the R Project Windows binaries page (https://cloud.r-project.org/bin/windows/), an Exploit-DB entry (https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/46265), and a VulnCheck advisory on the R local buffer overflow for Windows XP SP3 (https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/r-local-buffer-overflow-windows-xp-sp3), provide further details on the issue, with the latter confirming exploitation on Windows XP SP3.
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2019-20130
Vulnerability details
R 3.4.4 contains a local buffer overflow vulnerability that allows attackers to execute arbitrary code by injecting malicious input into the GUI Preferences language field. Attackers can craft a payload with a 292-byte offset and JMP ESP instruction to execute…
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commands like calc.exe when the payload is pasted into the Language for menus and messages field.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise TechniquesAI
Why these techniques?
Local buffer overflow in R GUI client application directly enables arbitrary code execution via crafted input in preferences field.
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI
Flaw remediation directly addresses this buffer overflow by applying patches or upgrading R to a version without the vulnerability in the GUI language field.
Memory protection mechanisms like DEP and ASLR prevent successful arbitrary code execution from buffer overflow exploits in the language field.
Information input validation on the GUI Preferences language field restricts malicious payloads exceeding buffer limits or containing executable code.