CVE-2025-2173

Memory Safety in Zapping-Vbi Zvbi ≤ 0.2.44

Memory Safety

Published

11 March 2025

Modified

03 October 2025

Patch / advisory

View advisory

CVSS Score v4 6.9

Click a component to see what it means

Raw vector

CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:L/VI:N/VA:N/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:X

EPSS Score 0.0060 46th percentile

Risk Priority 42 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2025-2173 is a medium-severity Access of Uninitialized Pointer (CWE-824) vulnerability in Zapping-Vbi Zvbi. Its CVSS base score is 6.9 (Medium).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique OS Credential Dumping (T1003); ranked at the 46th 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 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-2025-2173 is a vulnerability in the libzvbi library versions up to 0.2.43, classified as problematic due to an uninitialized pointer issue. The flaw affects the vbi_strndup_iconv_ucs2 function in the src/conv.c file, where manipulation of the src_length argument triggers the use of an uninitialized pointer, corresponding to CWEs-824 (Access of Uninitialized Pointer) and CWE-908 (Use of Uninitialized Resource). The vulnerability carries a CVSS v3.1 base score of 5.3 (AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N), indicating medium severity with low confidentiality impact.

The vulnerability can be exploited remotely by unauthenticated attackers with no privileges required, as it has low attack complexity and no user interaction needed. By crafting input that manipulates the src_length parameter, an attacker can trigger the uninitialized pointer dereference, potentially leading to limited information disclosure. An exploit has been publicly disclosed and may be usable against affected libzvbi instances.

Mitigation is available through upgrading to libzvbi version 0.2.44, which addresses the issue via the patch commit 8def647eea27f7fd7ad33ff79c2d6d3e39948dce. The library maintainer was notified in advance and responded promptly and professionally, with details documented in the GitHub security advisory (GHSA-g7cg-7gw9-v8cf), release notes, and commit history.

EU & UK References

🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2025-7526

Vulnerability Data

A vulnerability was found in libzvbi up to 0.2.43. It has been classified as problematic. Affected is the function vbi_strndup_iconv_ucs2 of the file src/conv.c. The manipulation of the argument src_length leads to uninitialized pointer. It is possible to launch the…

attack remotely. The exploit has been disclosed to the public and may be used. Upgrading to version 0.2.44 is able to address this issue. The patch is identified as 8def647eea27f7fd7ad33ff79c2d6d3e39948dce. It is recommended to upgrade the affected component. The code maintainer was informed beforehand about the issues. She reacted very fast and highly professional.

CWE(s): CWE-824 CWE-908

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1003 OS Credential Dumping Credential Access

Adversaries may attempt to dump credentials to obtain account login and credential material, normally in the form of a hash or a clear text password.

attack.mitre.org →

T1068 Exploitation for Privilege Escalation Privilege Escalation

Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in an attempt to elevate privileges.

attack.mitre.org →

T1190 Exploit Public-Facing Application Initial Access

Adversaries may attempt to exploit a weakness in an Internet-facing host or system to initially access a network.

attack.mitre.org →

T1203 Exploitation for Client Execution Execution

Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in client applications to execute code.

attack.mitre.org →

T1210 Exploitation of Remote Services Lateral Movement

Adversaries may exploit remote services to gain unauthorized access to internal systems once inside of a network.

attack.mitre.org →

T1211 Exploitation for Stealth Stealth

Adversaries may exploit vulnerabilities to evade detection by hiding activity, suppressing logging, or operating within trusted or unmonitored components.

attack.mitre.org →

Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2025-2176Same product: Zapping-Vbi Zvbi

CVE-2025-2174Same product: Zapping-Vbi Zvbi

CVE-2025-2177Same product: Zapping-Vbi Zvbi

CVE-2025-2175Same product: Zapping-Vbi Zvbi

CVE-2026-45736Shared CWE-824, CWE-908

CVE-2026-6749Shared CWE-824, CWE-908

CVE-2026-3497Shared CWE-824, CWE-908

CVE-2024-9258Shared CWE-824

CVE-2025-47098Shared CWE-824

CVE-2025-1047Shared CWE-824

Affected Assets

zapping-vbi

zvbi

≤ 0.2.44

Mitigating Controls

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

SA-11 Developer Testing and Evaluation good match

Developer testing and evaluation can discover uninitialized pointer accesses through static analysis, dynamic testing, or fuzzing before deployment.

SA-15 Development Process, Standards, and Tools partial match

Requiring documented development processes and tools enables use of analyzers or coding standards that identify uninitialized pointer defects.

SA-8 Security and Privacy Engineering Principles partial match

Security engineering principles can mandate memory-safety practices and language choices that structurally avoid uninitialized pointer use.

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.

PR.PS-06 mostly match

prevents

Secure SDLC practices directly prevent uninitialized pointer bugs via coding standards, analysis, and reviews, but eliminating this single weakness only partially fulfills the broader control.

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.

A.8.29 Security testing in development and acceptance mostly match

finds

Security testing can detect uninitialized pointer usage before release.

A.8.25 Secure development life cycle partial match

prevents

Secure development life cycle mandates practices that reduce uninitialized pointer defects.

A.8.26 Application security requirements partial match

degrades

Application security requirements can specify pointer initialization rules.

A.8.27 Secure system architecture and engineering principles partial match

degrades

Secure architecture principles discourage unsafe pointer handling.