CVE intelligence and bounded remediation

CVE-2025-69650 — GNU Binutils thru 2.46 readelf contains a double free vulnerability when processing a crafted ELF binary with malformed relocation data

High CVSS 7.5

GNU Binutils thru 2.46 readelf contains a double free vulnerability when processing a crafted ELF binary with malformed relocation data. During GOT relocation handling, dump_relocations may return early without initializing the all_relocations array. As a result, process_got_section_contents() may pass an uninitialized r_symbol pointer to free(), leading to a double free and terminating the program with SIGABRT. No evidence of exploitable memory corruption or code execution was observed; the impact is limited to denial of service. NOTE: this is disputed by third parties because the observed behavior occurred only in pre-release code and did not affect any tagged version.

Severity
High
CVSS
7.5 (3.1)
Published
2026-03-06
CISA KEV
Not currently listed
Ecosystem
software/application
Weaknesses
CWE-415

Affected products

  • gnu / binutils

Matched remediation archetype

Buffer bounds, memory safety, and memory corruption

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Check exposure

  • Identify affected native-code versions, build flags, architectures, parsers, codecs, drivers, and input paths in all shipped artifacts.
  • Determine whether untrusted data reaches the affected routine and the process privilege, sandbox, and network exposure.
  • Confirm statically linked, vendored, firmware, and platform-provided copies, not only package-manager records.

Remediate safely

  • Apply the maintained upstream correction or replace the affected component, then rebuild every dependent artifact from clean inputs.
  • Adopt bounds-checked interfaces, validated sizes and integer conversions, clear ownership, and memory-safe components where practical.
  • Enable supported compiler and runtime hardening and add sanitized tests and fuzz regression seeds derived from non-weaponized fixtures.

Authoritative sources

Complete CVE record and remediation plan

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