CVE-2025-50129
Memory Safety in Sail 0.9.8
Raw vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:HSummary
CVE-2025-50129 is a high-severity Heap-based Buffer Overflow (CWE-122) vulnerability in Sail Sail. Its CVSS base score is 8.8 (High).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploitation for Privilege Escalation (T1068); ranked in the top 49% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog; a public proof-of-concept is referenced.
The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to SA-11 (Developer Testing and Evaluation) and SI-10 (Information Input Validation) — 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.
A heap-based buffer overflow vulnerability, designated CVE-2025-50129 and published on 2025-08-25, affects the PCX Image Decoding functionality in the SAIL Image Decoding Library version 0.9.8. The issue arises when decoding image data from a specially crafted .tga file, leading to memory corruption. This flaw is classified under CWE-122 (Heap-based Buffer Overflow) and carries a CVSS v3.1 base score of 8.8 (AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H), indicating high severity due to its potential for significant confidentiality, integrity, and availability impacts.
Attackers can exploit this vulnerability remotely over a network with low complexity and no required privileges, but it necessitates user interaction. Specifically, an attacker must convince a user to process a malicious .tga file using an application that incorporates the vulnerable SAIL library, triggering the buffer overflow and enabling remote code execution on the victim's system.
For mitigation details, refer to the Cisco Talos Intelligence advisory at https://talosintelligence.com/vulnerability_reports/TALOS-2025-2220, which provides analysis and recommendations specific to this vulnerability.
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2025-25739
Vulnerability Data
A memory corruption vulnerability exists in the PCX Image Decoding functionality of the SAIL Image Decoding Library v0.9.8. When decoding the image data from a specially crafted .tga file, a heap-based buffer overflow can occur which allows for remote code…
more
execution. An attacker will need to convince the library to read a file to trigger this vulnerability.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Control response
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V1.4.1
Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI
Developer testing and evaluation (including fuzzing and memory-error detectors) can discover heap overflows after they have been coded.
Input validation enforces bounds checking on data written to heap buffers, directly stopping the overflow condition from being introduced.
Security engineering principles require use of memory-safe constructs and bounds-checked allocation routines that avoid introducing heap overflows.
Memory-protection mechanisms limit the ability of a heap overflow to execute attacker-controlled code or corrupt adjacent structures.
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-development practices directly require bounds checking and safe memory handling that prevent heap overflows.
Vulnerability scanning and recording can discover heap-overflow flaws but does not prevent their introduction in code.
Timely patching removes known heap-overflow instances after they exist.
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 and acceptance can detect heap overflows before release.
Secure development lifecycle mandates practices that reduce the likelihood of introducing heap overflows.
Application security requirements can specify bounds-checking and safe memory APIs that mitigate heap overflows.
Secure architecture and engineering principles include memory-safety and input-validation controls that address heap overflows.
Secure coding standards directly prescribe techniques (safe functions, bounds checks) that prevent heap-based buffer overflows.
Change management ensures controlled deployment of fixes for discovered heap-overflow vulnerabilities.