Memory corruption via unvalidated MAC-48 parsing
Published Dec 31, 2025 · Updated Dec 31, 2025
Memory corruption in pcap_ether_aton() in The Tcpdump Group libpcap before 1.10.6 allows local users to alter memory via malformed input. The public API's simple parsing loop assumes a supported MAC-48 format and can read past the input string or write past its fixed-size output buffer. Exploitation requires an application to pass an attacker-controlled malformed address directly to the API; normal internal calls provide valid input.
Summary
What happened
Memory corruption in pcap_ether_aton() in The Tcpdump Group libpcap before 1.10.6 allows local users to alter memory via malformed input. The public API's simple parsing loop assumes a supported MAC-48 format and can read past the input string or write past its fixed-size output buffer. Exploitation requires an application to pass an attacker-controlled malformed address directly to the API; normal internal calls provide valid input.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2025-11961
- Published
- Dec 31, 2025
- Updated
- Dec 31, 2025
- Vendor
- The Tcpdump Group
- Product
- libpcap
- Classifications
- CWE-122, CWE-126
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- admin
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Dec 31, 2025CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Dec 31, 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?
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- Affected versionversion=0 <1.10.6
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
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Your stack
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