Utility crash via null section pointer
Published Mar 6, 2026 · Updated Mar 6, 2026
Null pointer dereference in GNU Binutils readelf 2.46 and earlier allows attackers to crash the utility with a crafted ELF file. During relocation display, malformed header fields can leave a section lookup invalid or null, and display_relocations() dereferences the resulting pointer. Exploitation requires readelf to process the supplied file; the observed consequence is a SIGSEGV termination of that process, with no reported memory corruption or code execution.
Summary
What happened
Null pointer dereference in GNU Binutils readelf 2.46 and earlier allows attackers to crash the utility with a crafted ELF file. During relocation display, malformed header fields can leave a section lookup invalid or null, and display_relocations() dereferences the resulting pointer. Exploitation requires readelf to process the supplied file; the observed consequence is a SIGSEGV termination of that process, with no reported memory corruption or code execution.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2025-69649
- Published
- Mar 6, 2026
- Updated
- Mar 6, 2026
- Vendor
- Unknown vendor
- Product
- Unknown product
- Classifications
- CWE-476, T1204.002
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- unauthenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Mar 6, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Mar 6, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
Present is not the same as exploitable
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What is affected?
Affected products and versions are unavailable in this record.
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.
Public exploit references
- Crafted ELF readelf crash proof of conceptproof of concept · unverified
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Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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