# CVE-2025-1372: GNU elfutils eu-readelf readelf.c print_string_section buffer overflow

> A buffer overflow in GNU elfutils eu-readelf allows local attackers to execute arbitrary code or cause denial of service via crafted arguments.

- **Severity:** Medium 4.8 (`CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:L/VI:L/VA:L/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 17 Feb 2025
- **Updated:** 18 Feb 2025
- **Also known as:** AZL-56977, BELL-CVE-2025-1372, DEBIAN-CVE-2025-1372, ECHO-d1e1-d410-d8fb, GHSA-r49j-8ffh-3gvm, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-12-CVE-2025-1372, UBUNTU-CVE-2025-1372

## What is CVE-2025-1372?

CVE-2025-1372 is a medium-severity memory corruption vulnerability in GNU elfutils, published on 17 Feb 2025. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

A vulnerability was found in GNU elfutils 0.192. It has been declared as critical. Affected by this vulnerability is the function dump_data_section/print_string_section of the file readelf.c of the component eu-readelf. The manipulation of the argument z/x leads to buffer overflow. An attack has to be approached locally. The exploit has been disclosed to the public and may be used. The identifier of the patch is 73db9d2021cab9e23fd734b0a76a612d52a6f1db. It is recommended to apply a patch to fix this issue.

Weakness: CWE-120 (Buffer Copy without Checking Size of Input), CWE-119 (Improper Restriction of Operations within the Bounds of a Memory Buffer)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2025-1372?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Elfutils Project Elfutils.

## How do I fix CVE-2025-1372?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2025-1372 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2025-1372 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in GNU elfutils

- [CVE-2018-8769](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-8769/): Memory corruption in n/a (high 7.8)
- [CVE-2014-0172](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2014-0172/): Integer overflow in n/a (medium 6.8)
- [CVE-2019-7148](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-7148/): Denial of service in n/a (medium 6.5)
- [CVE-2014-9447](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2014-9447/): Path traversal in n/a (medium 6.4)
- [CVE-2020-21047](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-21047/): Memory corruption in n/a (medium 5.5)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2025-1372 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2025-1372 is a medium-severity memory corruption vulnerability in GNU elfutils, published on 17 Feb 2025. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2025-1372 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: GNU elfutils. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-1372/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-1372/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2025-1372
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-1372
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2025-1372

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-1372/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.