#VU79342 Out-of-bounds read in Binutils - CVE-2020-16591

Vulnerability identifier: #VU79342

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-2020-16591

CWE-ID: CWE-125

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 invalid read in process_symbol_table. A local attacker can trick the victim into opening a specially crafted data, trigger out-of-bounds read 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/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=25822
https://sourceware.org/git/gitweb.cgi?p=binutils-gdb.git;h=001890e1f9269697f7e0212430a51479271bdab2
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.