Signing failure via uninitialized private-key pointer
Published Jul 22, 2025 · Updated Sep 1, 2026
Use-after-free in libssh before 0.11.2 allows local users to cause signing failures or heap corruption through a missing key filename. The deprecated privatekey_from_file() function leaves a private-key variable uninitialized when the named file does not exist, then returns an invalid key that later code can use or free. Exploitation requires a local low-privileged user to reach a consuming application's call path; observed consequences are bounded to signing failure, invalid-key use, and heap corruption.
Summary
What happened
Use-after-free in libssh before 0.11.2 allows local users to cause signing failures or heap corruption through a missing key filename. The deprecated privatekey_from_file() function leaves a private-key variable uninitialized when the named file does not exist, then returns an invalid key that later code can use or free. Exploitation requires a local low-privileged user to reach a consuming application's call path; observed consequences are bounded to signing failure, invalid-key use, and heap corruption.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2025-4878
- Published
- Jul 22, 2025
- Updated
- Sep 1, 2026
- Vendor
- 389 Directory Server
- Product
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10
- Classifications
- CWE-416
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Jul 22, 2025CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Sep 1, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
Present is not the same as exploitable
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What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Attacks
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Public exploit references
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