CVE-2025-15514
Ollama 0.11.6 – 0.13.5
Raw vector
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:XSummary
CVE-2025-15514 is a high-severity Use of NullPointerException Catch to Detect NULL Pointer Dereference (CWE-395) vulnerability in Ollama Ollama. Its CVSS base score is 8.7 (High).
Operationally, ranked in the top 50% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog; a public proof-of-concept is referenced.
This vulnerability is AI-related — categorised as NLP and Transformers; in the Data-Related Vulnerabilities risk domain.
The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to SA-11 (Developer Testing and Evaluation) and SA-15 (Development Process, Standards, and Tools) — see the control section below for these in your framework.
Deeper analysis AI-assisted summary
Synthesised by an AI model from the NVD description and linked references — a reading aid, not an authoritative source.
CVE-2025-15514 is a null pointer dereference vulnerability affecting Ollama versions 0.11.5-rc0 through 0.13.5 in the multi-modal model image processing functionality. The issue arises when processing base64-encoded image data submitted via the /api/chat endpoint. The application does not validate that the decoded data represents valid media before passing it to the mtmd_helper_bitmap_init_from_buf function, which can return NULL for malformed input. Subsequent code fails to check this return value before dereferencing the pointer, leading to a segmentation fault.
A remote attacker with network access can exploit this vulnerability without authentication or user interaction by sending specially crafted base64-encoded image data that decodes to invalid media. This triggers a crash in the runner process, resulting in a denial-of-service condition where the model becomes unavailable to all users until the service is manually restarted. The vulnerability has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 7.5 (AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H) and is associated with CWE-395 (Use of Null Pointer).
Advisories and reports detailing the vulnerability and potential mitigations are available from sources including the official Ollama GitHub repository at https://github.com/ollama/ollama, a Huntr bounty report at https://huntr.com/bounties/172df98b-07cd-41ea-a628-366f8cd525c0, the Ollama website at https://ollama.com/, and a Vulncheck advisory at https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/ollama-multi-modal-image-processing-null-pointer-dereference. Security practitioners should consult these for patch information and remediation guidance.
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2026-2400
Vulnerability Data
Ollama 0.11.5-rc0 through current version 0.13.5 contain a null pointer dereference vulnerability in the multi-modal model image processing functionality. When processing base64-encoded image data via the /api/chat endpoint, the application fails to validate that the decoded data represents valid media…
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before passing it to the mtmd_helper_bitmap_init_from_buf function. This function can return NULL for malformed input, but the code does not check this return value before dereferencing the pointer in subsequent operations. A remote attacker can exploit this by sending specially crafted base64 image data that decodes to invalid media, causing a segmentation fault and crashing the runner process. This results in a denial of service condition where the model becomes unavailable to all users until the service is restarted.
- CWE(s)
AI Security AnalysisAI
- AI Category
- NLP and Transformers
- Risk Domain
- Data-Related Vulnerabilities
- OWASP Top 10 for LLMs 2025
- None mapped
- Classification Reason
- Matched keywords: ollama
Related Threats
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI
Developer testing and evaluation can discover catch blocks used for null detection during code review or dynamic analysis.
Documented development standards and tools can mandate explicit null checks instead of relying on exception handlers.
Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI
Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.
Secure SDLC practices directly enforce proper null handling via reviews and tooling rather than exception catching.
Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI
Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.
Security testing can detect improper exception handling but does not prevent the coding practice itself.
Secure coding rules explicitly forbid catching NullPointerException to detect null dereferences.