Code execution via SquashFS symlink integer overflow
Published Feb 18, 2025 · Updated Nov 3, 2025
Integer overflow in U-Boot before 2025.01-rc1 allows physically proximate attackers to overwrite memory via a crafted SquashFS filesystem. sqfs_resolve_symlink adds one to an untrusted 32-bit symlink size without overflow checking, allocates zero bytes at 0xffffffff, then copies data into that allocation. Exploitation requires control of filesystem data structures and can execute code or bypass verified boot on systems that trust U-Boot to preserve the boot chain.
Summary
What happened
Integer overflow in U-Boot before 2025.01-rc1 allows physically proximate attackers to overwrite memory via a crafted SquashFS filesystem. sqfs_resolve_symlink adds one to an untrusted 32-bit symlink size without overflow checking, allocates zero bytes at 0xffffffff, then copies data into that allocation. Exploitation requires control of filesystem data structures and can execute code or bypass verified boot on systems that trust U-Boot to preserve the boot chain.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2024-57255
- Published
- Feb 18, 2025
- Updated
- Nov 3, 2025
- Vendor
- DENX Software Engineering GmbH
- Product
- U-Boot
- Classifications
- CWE-190
- Attack vector
- physical
- Privileges
- unauthenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Feb 18, 2025CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Nov 3, 2025Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
Present is not the same as exploitable
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Is a vulnerable build present?
Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.
- Affected versionversion=0 <2025.01-rc1
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
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.
Weakness, pattern, technique
Public exploit references
No public exploit references are available in this record.
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Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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