CVE-2025-54486
Memory Safety in Libbiosig Project Libbiosig ≤ 3.9.1
Raw vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:HSummary
CVE-2025-54486 is a critical-severity Stack-based Buffer Overflow (CWE-121) vulnerability in Libbiosig Project Libbiosig. Its CVSS base score is 9.8 (Critical).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploitation for Privilege Escalation (T1068); ranked at the 49th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); 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 stack-based buffer overflow vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2025-54486 and assigned CWE-121, affects the MFER parsing functionality in The Biosig Project's libbiosig version 3.9.0 and the master branch at commit 35a819fa. The issue occurs in biosig.c at line 8824 during handling of tag 11 (0x0B), where insufficient bounds checking on the 'len' parameter during a read operation into a fixed-size buffer allows overflow. A specially crafted MFER file can trigger this flaw, leading to arbitrary code execution. The vulnerability carries a CVSS v3.1 base score of 9.8 (AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H), indicating critical severity.
Any unauthenticated attacker with the ability to supply a malicious MFER file to a vulnerable application using libbiosig can exploit this remotely with low complexity and no user interaction required. Successful exploitation enables arbitrary code execution in the context of the affected process, potentially granting full control over the system depending on the privileges of the parsing application.
Mitigation details and additional technical analysis are available in the Talos Intelligence advisory at https://talosintelligence.com/vulnerability_reports/TALOS-2025-2234.
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2025-25677
Vulnerability Data
A stack-based buffer overflow vulnerability exists in the MFER parsing functionality of The Biosig Project libbiosig 3.9.0 and Master Branch (35a819fa). A specially crafted MFER file can lead to arbitrary code execution. An attacker can provide a malicious file to…
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trigger this vulnerability.This vulnerability manifests on line 8824 of biosig.c on the current master branch (35a819fa), when the Tag is 11: else if (tag==11) //0x0B { // Fs if (len>6) fprintf(stderr,"Warning MFER tag11 incorrect length %i>6\n",len); double fval; curPos += ifread(buf,1,len,hdr);
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Control response
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- 2 hardening rules · 2 OS baselines
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Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI
Developer testing and analysis can discover stack-buffer overflows before deployment.
Input validation directly stops untrusted data from exceeding stack buffer bounds.
Memory-protection mechanisms limit the ability to execute injected code after a stack overflow.
Secure-engineering principles include bounds-checked coding and safe buffer handling that avoid introducing the flaw.
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 prevent introduction of stack buffer overflows.
Vulnerability scanning can discover stack buffer overflows but does not prevent their introduction.
Patching eliminates known instances of the weakness after discovery.
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 (fuzzing, static analysis) detects stack overflows before release.
Secure SDLC mandates buffer-safety practices that directly prevent stack overflows.
Application security requirements can specify buffer-size and input-validation rules.
Secure architecture principles include memory-safety and least-privilege stack usage.
Secure coding standards explicitly forbid unsafe buffer handling that causes CWE-121.
Change-management gates can enforce security reviews that catch buffer issues.
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-248594 OL 8 must implement address space layout randomization (ASLR) to protect its memory from unauthorized code execution. prevents CWE-121
Oracle Linux 9 (1 rule)
- V-271452 OL 9 must use a Linux Security Module configured to enforce limits on system services. prevents CWE-121