Raw vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:HSummary
CVE-2025-69650 is a high-severity Double Free (CWE-415) vulnerability in Gnu Binutils. Its CVSS base score is 7.5 (High).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploitation for Client Execution (T1203); ranked at the 40th 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-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-2025-69650, published on 2026-03-06, is a double free vulnerability (CWE-415) in the readelf tool of GNU Binutils versions through 2.46. The issue arises when processing a crafted ELF binary with malformed relocation data. During GOT relocation handling, the dump_relocations function may return early without initializing the all_relocations array, causing process_got_section_contents to pass an uninitialized r_symbol pointer to free(). This triggers a double free, terminating the program with SIGABRT. 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).
Attackers can exploit this by providing a specially crafted ELF binary to readelf, requiring no privileges or user interaction and feasible over a network vector per the CVSS assessment. Exploitation results in denial of service through process crash, with no evidence of exploitable memory corruption or code execution observed.
Sourceware Bugzilla entries 33698 and 33700 track the issue, with fixes committed to the Binutils-GDB git repository, including changes at 81e90cf63a10ad11772c2437c8f2a88f1a00c739 and ea4bc025abdba85a90e26e13f551c16a44bfa92. Third parties dispute the CVE, stating the behavior occurred only in pre-release code and does not affect tagged versions.
No real-world exploitation has been reported.
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2025-208346
Vulnerability Data
GNU Binutils thru 2.46 readelf contains a double free vulnerability when processing a crafted ELF binary with malformed relocation data. During GOT relocation handling, dump_relocations may return early without initializing the all_relocations array. As a result, process_got_section_contents() may pass an…
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uninitialized r_symbol pointer to free(), leading to a double free and terminating the program with SIGABRT. No evidence of exploitable memory corruption or code execution was observed; the impact is limited to denial of service. NOTE: this is disputed by third parties because the observed behavior occurred only in pre-release code and did not affect any tagged version.
- 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