CVE-2025-8844Public exploit

Assembler crash via unchecked macro template pointer

Published Aug 11, 2025 · Updated Aug 11, 2025

Null pointer dereference in NASM 2.17rc0 allows local users to crash the assembler by processing a malformed assembly file. The parse_smacro_template function recursively processes malformed macro parameter syntax without validating the resulting pointer before reading it at preproc.c line 3054. An existing local account and execution of NASM against the crafted file are required; the demonstrated consequence is termination of that NASM process.

CVSS severity5.5
Medium
EPSS probability0.27%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Null pointer dereference in NASM 2.17rc0 allows local users to crash the assembler by processing a malformed assembly file. The parse_smacro_template function recursively processes malformed macro parameter syntax without validating the resulting pointer before reading it at preproc.c line 3054. An existing local account and execution of NASM against the crafted file are required; the demonstrated consequence is termination of that NASM process.

The record

CVE
CVE-2025-8844
Published
Aug 11, 2025
Updated
Aug 11, 2025
Vendor
NASM
Product
NASM
Classifications
CWE-476, CWE-404, T1499.004
Attack vector
local
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Aug 11, 2025CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Aug 11, 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.

  1. Affected versionversion=2.17rc0

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

NASM · NASMversion=2.17rc0

Published CVSS scores

3.3VulDBCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L
1.7VulDBAV:L/AC:L/Au:S/C:N/I:N/A:P
1.9VulDBCVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:L/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:P
5.5NIST NVDCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.

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.

Daily unique IPsNo honeypot observations are available for this CVE in the selected window.

No observations available

Sep 10, 2026Sep 16, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 16, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectorlocal
Privilegesauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitPublished

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-476NULL Pointer Dereference
CWE-404Improper Resource Shutdown or Release
T1499.004Application or System Exploitation

Public exploit references

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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