Secure Boot bypass via translation-list allocation overflow
Published Feb 18, 2025 · Updated Jun 29, 2026
Integer overflow in GNU GRUB 2.12 and earlier allows local users with high privileges to read or overwrite heap data via a crafted .mo file. In grub_mofile_open(), the message-count multiplication passed to grub_zalloc() can wrap, underallocating grub_gettext_msg_list before later accesses read and write beyond its heap buffer. Loading the file during the pre-OS boot path requires high privileges and can expose sensitive data, corrupt critical data, or circumvent Secure Boot protections.
Summary
What happened
Integer overflow in GNU GRUB 2.12 and earlier allows local users with high privileges to read or overwrite heap data via a crafted .mo file. In grub_mofile_open(), the message-count multiplication passed to grub_zalloc() can wrap, underallocating grub_gettext_msg_list before later accesses read and write beyond its heap buffer. Loading the file during the pre-OS boot path requires high privileges and can expose sensitive data, corrupt critical data, or circumvent Secure Boot protections.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2024-45776
- Published
- Feb 18, 2025
- Updated
- Jun 29, 2026
- Vendor
- The GnuPG Project
- Product
- GNU GRUB
- Classifications
- CWE-787, T1542
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- admin
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Feb 18, 2025CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Jun 29, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
Present is not the same as exploitable
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Is a vulnerable build present?
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- Affected versionversion=0 <=2.12
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
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Attacks
What attackers are doing with it
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Public exploit references
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Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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