Raw vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:HSummary
CVE-2025-69649 is a high-severity NULL Pointer Dereference (CWE-476) vulnerability in Gnu Binutils. Its CVSS base score is 7.5 (High).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Endpoint Denial of Service (T1499); ranked at the 17th 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 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-2025-69649 is a null pointer dereference vulnerability (CWE-476) in the readelf tool of GNU Binutils versions through 2.46. The flaw arises when processing a crafted ELF binary with malformed header fields, where an invalid or null section pointer is passed to the display_relocations() function during relocation processing. This triggers a segmentation fault (SIGSEGV), causing abrupt termination of the readelf process. Published on 2026-03-06, the vulnerability carries a CVSS v3.1 base score of 7.5 (AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H), with no observed memory corruption beyond the dereference or potential for code execution.
Any remote attacker can exploit this vulnerability without privileges or user interaction by providing a specially crafted ELF binary to the readelf tool. Successful exploitation results in a denial-of-service condition, crashing the readelf process and disrupting analysis workflows for users or automated systems relying on it, such as build pipelines or debugging tools.
The issue is tracked in the Sourceware Bugzilla report at https://sourceware.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=33697, with a fix available in the upstream commit at https://sourceware.org/git/gitweb.cgi?p=binutils-gdb.git;h=66a3492ce68e1ae45b2489bd9a815c39ea5d7f66. Security practitioners should update GNU Binutils to a version incorporating this patch and validate ELF inputs when using readelf in untrusted environments.
OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2025-208345
Vulnerability Data
GNU Binutils thru 2.46 readelf contains a null pointer dereference vulnerability when processing a crafted ELF binary with malformed header fields. During relocation processing, an invalid or null section pointer may be passed into display_relocations(), resulting in a segmentation fault…
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(SIGSEGV) and abrupt termination. No evidence of memory corruption beyond the null pointer dereference, nor any possibility of code execution, was observed.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI
Developer testing and evaluation (including static analysis) directly finds null-dereference bugs before deployment.
Documented development standards and tools can enforce null-safety rules and safe pointer usage.
Engineering principles can mandate defensive coding such as explicit null checks before dereference.
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 (static analysis, code review, safe coding standards) directly prevent NULL dereference bugs during development.
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 can detect NULL dereference defects before release.
Secure SDLC mandates defensive coding practices that can prevent NULL dereferences.
Application security requirements can specify input validation and pointer-safety rules.
Secure architecture principles encourage defensive design that avoids unsafe pointer use.
Secure coding standards directly require NULL-pointer checks and safe dereference patterns.