#VU79341 Double Free in Binutils - CVE-2020-16590

Vulnerability identifier: #VU79341

Vulnerability risk: Low

CVSSv4.0: 4 [CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:A/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:U/U:Clear]

CVE-ID: CVE-2020-16590

CWE-ID: CWE-415

Exploitation vector: Local

Exploit availability: No

Vulnerable software:
Binutils
Universal components / Libraries / Libraries used by multiple products

Vendor: GNU

Description

The vulnerability allows a local attacker to perform a denial of service attack.

The vulnerability exists due to a boundary error in the Binary File Descriptor (BFD) (aka libbrd) in GNU Binutils in the process_symbol_table. A local attacker can trick the victim into opening a specially crafted data, trigger double free error and perform a denial of service attack.

Mitigation
Install updates from vendor's website.

Vulnerable software versions

Binutils: 2.35

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External links
https://sourceware.org/git/gitweb.cgi?p=binutils-gdb.git;h=c98a4545dc7bf2bcaf1de539c4eb84784680eaa4
https://sourceware.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=25821
https://security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20210115-0003/

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Q & A

Can this vulnerability be exploited remotely?

No. This vulnerability can be exploited locally. The attacker should have authentication credentials and successfully authenticate on the system.

Is there known malware, which exploits this vulnerability?

No. We are not aware of malware exploiting this vulnerability.