Cyber Resilience

CVE-2025-67268

Memory Safety in Gpsd Project Gpsd ≤ 3.27.1

Public PoCMemory Safety
Published
02 January 2026
Modified
15 July 2026
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 9.8
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS Score 0.0069 49th percentile
Risk Priority 72 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2025-67268 is a critical-severity Heap-based Buffer Overflow (CWE-122) vulnerability in Gpsd Project Gpsd. 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.

CVE-2025-67268 is a heap-based out-of-bounds write vulnerability in gpsd versions prior to commit dc966aa. The issue resides in the drivers/driver_nmea2000.c file, specifically within the hnd_129540 function that processes NMEA2000 PGN 129540 (GNSS Satellites in View) packets. This function does not properly validate the user-supplied satellite count—limited to a maximum of 255—against the fixed size of the skyview array, which holds only 184 elements. Sending a crafted packet with a satellite count exceeding 184 triggers an out-of-bounds write, resulting in memory corruption. The vulnerability is rated with 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) and is associated with CWE-122 (Heap-based Buffer Overflow).

An unauthenticated remote attacker can exploit this vulnerability by transmitting specially crafted NMEA2000 packets to a gpsd instance listening on an affected interface. No privileges, user interaction, or special access are required, making it highly accessible over the network with low complexity. Successful exploitation leads to memory corruption, enabling denial of service (DoS) through crashes or resource exhaustion, and potentially arbitrary code execution if the corruption allows control over execution flow.

Mitigation is available via the fixing commit dc966aa74c075d0a6535811d98628625cbfbe3f4 in the ntpsec/gpsd repository, which addresses the validation flaw in driver_nmea2000.c. Security practitioners should update gpsd to a version incorporating this commit and review deployments for exposure to NMEA2000 traffic sources. Additional details are provided in the advisory at the Jaenact/gspd_cve repository README for CVE-2025-67268.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

gpsd before commit dc966aa contains a heap-based out-of-bounds write vulnerability in the drivers/driver_nmea2000.c file. The hnd_129540 function, which handles NMEA2000 PGN 129540 (GNSS Satellites in View) packets, fails to validate the user-supplied satellite count against the size of the skyview…

more

array (184 elements). This allows an attacker to write beyond the bounds of the array by providing a satellite count up to 255, leading to memory corruption, Denial of Service (DoS), and potentially arbitrary code execution.

CWE(s)

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1068 Exploitation for Privilege Escalation Privilege Escalation
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in an attempt to elevate privileges.
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.
T1203 Exploitation for Client Execution Execution
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in client applications to execute code.
T1210 Exploitation of Remote Services Lateral Movement
Adversaries may exploit remote services to gain unauthorized access to internal systems once inside of a network.
T1212 Exploitation for Credential Access Credential Access
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in an attempt to collect credentials.
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2023-43628Same product: Gpsd Project Gpsd
CVE-2025-67269Same product: Gpsd Project Gpsd
CVE-2026-58459Same product: Gpsd Project Gpsd
CVE-2024-29982Shared CWE-122
CVE-2024-49011Shared CWE-122
CVE-2025-54282Shared CWE-122
CVE-2026-5868Shared CWE-122
CVE-2026-23534Shared CWE-122
CVE-2026-50477Shared CWE-122
CVE-2026-62736Shared CWE-122

Affected Assets

gpsd project
gpsd
≤ 3.27.1

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)

Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)

Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)
  • V1.4.1
  • V1.4.2
  • V2.1.1
  • V2.2.1

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.

PR.PS-06 full match
prevents

Secure-development practices directly require bounds checking and safe memory handling that prevent heap overflows.

ID.RA-01 partial match
prevents

Vulnerability scanning and recording can discover heap-overflow flaws but does not prevent their introduction in code.

PR.PS-02 partial match
prevents

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.

finds

Security testing in development and acceptance can detect heap overflows before release.

prevents

Secure development lifecycle mandates practices that reduce the likelihood of introducing heap overflows.

prevents

Application security requirements can specify bounds-checking and safe memory APIs that mitigate heap overflows.

prevents

Secure architecture and engineering principles include memory-safety and input-validation controls that address heap overflows.

prevents

Secure coding standards directly prescribe techniques (safe functions, bounds checks) that prevent heap-based buffer overflows.

none

Change management ensures controlled deployment of fixes for discovered heap-overflow vulnerabilities.

References