Raw vector
CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:L/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:P/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-2025-15535 is a medium-severity Improper Resource Shutdown or Release (CWE-404) vulnerability. Its CVSS base score is 4.8 (Medium).
Operationally, ranked at the 2th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to SI-10 (Information Input Validation) and SI-16 (Memory Protection) — see the control section below for these in your framework.
OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2026-3181
Vulnerability Data
A security flaw has been discovered in nicbarker clay up to 0.14. This affects the function Clay__MeasureTextCached in the library clay.h. The manipulation results in null pointer dereference. The attack is only possible with local access. The exploit has been…
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released to the public and may be used for attacks. The project was informed of the problem early through an issue report but has not responded yet.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Control response
Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI
Enforces validation of all inputs to Clay__MeasureTextCached to reject or safely handle null/invalid pointers before dereference occurs.
Applies memory-protection mechanisms that detect and block null-pointer dereference attempts in the clay.h library at runtime.
Requires prompt application of patches or workarounds once the reported null-dereference flaw in clay up to 0.14 is fixed by the maintainer.
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 include coding standards for correct resource allocation and release.
Runtime monitoring can detect resource exhaustion caused by improper shutdown or release.
Lifecycle management of assets can encompass proper resource release at end-of-life or shutdown.
Capacity management helps surface leaks from unreleased resources but does not prevent the coding flaw.
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 NULL dereference defects before release.
Including restart, recovery and media-handling instructions reduces the likelihood that resources or sensitive data will be left in an exposed or improperly released state after a failure.
Secure SDLC mandates defensive coding practices that can prevent NULL dereferences.
Application security requirements can specify input validation and pointer-safety rules.
Secure architecture principles encourage defensive design that avoids unsafe pointer use.
Secure coding standards directly require NULL-pointer checks and safe dereference patterns.