CVE-2022-44840

Process crash via unchecked ELF section index

Published Aug 22, 2023 · Updated Oct 3, 2024

Heap buffer overflow in GNU Binutils readelf before 2.40 allows attackers to crash the utility by supplying a crafted ELF file. The find_section_in_set function uses a corrupt section index to access the section_headers array without first validating it against e_shnum. Exploitation requires a user to process the attacker-supplied file; the demonstrated consequence is an out-of-bounds heap access and readelf process crash.

CVSS severity7.8
High
EPSS probability0.49%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Heap buffer overflow in GNU Binutils readelf before 2.40 allows attackers to crash the utility by supplying a crafted ELF file. The find_section_in_set function uses a corrupt section index to access the section_headers array without first validating it against e_shnum. Exploitation requires a user to process the attacker-supplied file; the demonstrated consequence is an out-of-bounds heap access and readelf process crash.

The record

CVE
CVE-2022-44840
Published
Aug 22, 2023
Updated
Oct 3, 2024
Vendor
Unknown vendor
Product
Unknown product
Classifications
CWE-787, CWE-122, T1204.002
Attack vector
local
Privileges
Unavailable

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Aug 22, 2023CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Oct 3, 2024Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

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Is a vulnerable build present?

Affected buildAffected product and version details are unavailable.

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesUnavailable in this record.

What is affected?

Affected products and versions are unavailable in this record.

Published CVSS scores

7.8NIST NVDCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
7.8CanonicalCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.

Attacks

What attackers are doing with it

Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.

Daily unique IPsNo honeypot observations are available for this CVE in the selected window.

No observations available

Sep 10, 2026Sep 16, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 16, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectorlocal
PrivilegesUnavailable
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-787Out-of-bounds Write
CWE-122Heap-based Buffer Overflow
T1204.002User Execution: Malicious File

Public exploit references

No public exploit references are available in this record.

Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.

Technologies

Your stack

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Your stack

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