#VU79356 NULL pointer dereference in Binutils - CVE-2020-35496

Vulnerability identifier: #VU79356

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-2020-35496

CWE-ID: CWE-476

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 (DoS) attack.

The vulnerability exists in bfd_pef_scan_start_address() of bfd/pef.c in binutils. A local attacker can trick the victim into opening a specially crafted data and perform a denial of service (DoS) attack.

Mitigation
Install updates from vendor's website.

Vulnerable software versions

Binutils: before 2.34

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External links
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1911444
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org/message/4KOK3QWSVOUJWJ54HVGIFWNLWQ5ZY4S6/
https://security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20210212-0007/
https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/202107-24

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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.