Application crash via unchecked GNU hash parse
Published Jan 10, 2026 · Updated Jan 10, 2026
Null pointer dereference in LIEF 0.17.0 through 0.17.1 allows local users to crash an application by supplying a malformed ELF file. Parser::parse_binary stores a failed GNU hash parse as a null pointer, then calls GnuHash::original_size without checking that pointer. The caller must process attacker-controlled ELF input locally; the resulting read from the null object terminates the parsing process without reported data access or modification.
Summary
What happened
Null pointer dereference in LIEF 0.17.0 through 0.17.1 allows local users to crash an application by supplying a malformed ELF file. Parser::parse_binary stores a failed GNU hash parse as a null pointer, then calls GnuHash::original_size without checking that pointer. The caller must process attacker-controlled ELF input locally; the resulting read from the null object terminates the parsing process without reported data access or modification.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2025-15504
- Published
- Jan 10, 2026
- Updated
- Jan 10, 2026
- Vendor
- LIEF Project
- Product
- LIEF
- Classifications
- CWE-476, CWE-404, T1499.004
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Jan 10, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Jan 10, 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?
Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.
- Affected versionversion=0.17.0
- Affected versionversion=0.17.1
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
- Malformed ELF reproducer for LIEF issue 1277proof of concept · demonstrated
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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