Raw vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:HSummary
CVE-2025-32988 is a medium-severity Double Free (CWE-415) vulnerability in Redhat Enterprise Linux. Its CVSS base score is 6.5 (Medium).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploitation for Client Execution (T1203); ranked in the top 35% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; 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-8 (Security and Privacy Engineering Principles) — 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-2025-32988 is a double-free vulnerability in the GnuTLS library, caused by incorrect ownership handling in the export logic for Subject Alternative Name (SAN) entries containing an otherName. When the type-id OID is invalid or malformed, GnuTLS calls asn1_delete_structure() on an ASN.1 node it does not own, leading to a double-free condition when the parent function or caller later attempts to free the same structure. This flaw, classified under CWE-415, affects GnuTLS and was published on 2025-07-10 with a CVSS v3.1 base score of 6.5 (AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:H).
The vulnerability can be triggered remotely by unauthenticated attackers using only public GnuTLS APIs, though it requires high attack complexity. Successful exploitation may result in denial of service or memory corruption, depending on the behavior of the underlying memory allocator.
Red Hat has released multiple errata addressing this vulnerability, including RHSA-2025:16115, RHSA-2025:16116, RHSA-2025:17181, RHSA-2025:17348, and RHSA-2025:17361, which provide updated packages or patches for affected systems.
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2025-20928
Vulnerability Data
A flaw was found in GnuTLS. A double-free vulnerability exists in GnuTLS due to incorrect ownership handling in the export logic of Subject Alternative Name (SAN) entries containing an otherName. If the type-id OID is invalid or malformed, GnuTLS will…
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call asn1_delete_structure() on an ASN.1 node it does not own, leading to a double-free condition when the parent function or caller later attempts to free the same structure. This vulnerability can be triggered using only public GnuTLS APIs and may result in denial of service or memory corruption, depending on allocator behavior.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Control response
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- 1 hardening rule · 1 OS baseline
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Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI
Developer testing and evaluation explicitly includes dynamic analysis and fuzzing that locate double-free defects before release.
Security engineering principles can require memory-safe allocation patterns or language features that structurally eliminate double-free opportunities.
Flaw remediation processes require identification and correction of memory-management defects such as double free once discovered.
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 prevent double-free errors via static analysis, safe memory APIs, and testing.
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 in development can detect double-free conditions before release.
Secure development life cycle includes memory-safety practices that can prevent double-free bugs.
Application security requirements can mandate memory-safety rules that reduce double-free risk.
Secure system architecture and engineering principles can prescribe safe memory-management patterns.
Secure coding standards directly address proper use of free() and similar functions.
Hardening callouts derived
Configuration rules from DISA STIG baselines that bear on weaknesses of the type cited by this CVE. Each rule is shown with the relationship its mapping actually records, against the CWE it was authored against. Derived via CVE→CWE over `controls_xwalks` (authoritative rows only; rows rated `none` are excluded).
Oracle Linux 8 (1 rule)
- V-248590 OL 8 must clear the page allocator to prevent use-after-free attacks. prevents CWE-415