CVE-2022-48064Public exploit

Inspection-tool interruption via contentless debug sections

Published Aug 22, 2023 · Updated Oct 3, 2024

Resource exhaustion in GNU Binutils before 2.40 allows context-dependent attackers to interrupt nm processing via a crafted ELF file. In bfd/dwarf2.c, find_debug_info accepts SHT_NOBITS debug sections without contents, letting their declared size evade the section-size sanity check and drive a huge allocation. Exploitation requires an inspection tool such as nm to process the file; the bounded consequence is memory exhaustion and interruption of that tool, and upstream disputes classification as a security issue.

CVSS severity5.5
Medium
EPSS probability0.61%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Resource exhaustion in GNU Binutils before 2.40 allows context-dependent attackers to interrupt nm processing via a crafted ELF file. In bfd/dwarf2.c, find_debug_info accepts SHT_NOBITS debug sections without contents, letting their declared size evade the section-size sanity check and drive a huge allocation. Exploitation requires an inspection tool such as nm to process the file; the bounded consequence is memory exhaustion and interruption of that tool, and upstream disputes classification as a security issue.

The record

CVE
CVE-2022-48064
Published
Aug 22, 2023
Updated
Oct 3, 2024
Vendor
Unknown vendor
Product
Unknown product
Classifications
CWE-770, T1499
Attack vector
local
Privileges
unauthenticated

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 privilegesunauthenticated

What is affected?

Affected products and versions are unavailable in this record.

Published CVSS scores

5.5UbuntuCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
5.5NIST NVDCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/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.

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No observations available

Sep 9, 2026Sep 15, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 15, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectorlocal
Privilegesunauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitPublished

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-770Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling
T1499Endpoint Denial of Service

Public exploit references

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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