Out-of-bounds read in coreutils - CVE-2025-5278

Vulnerability identifier: #VU109921

CSH Severity: Medium

CVSS v4: 4.6 [CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:A/VC:L/VI:N/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N]

CVE-ID: CVE-2025-5278

CWE-ID: CWE-125

Exploitation vector: Remote access

Exploit availability: No public exploit available

The vulnerability allows an attacker to gain access to potentially sensitive information.

The vulnerability exists due to a boundary condition within the begfield() function when handling an overly large key value. A remote attacker can trick the victim into passing specially crafted input to the application, trigger an out-of-bounds read error and read contents of memory on the system.

coreutils
Cloud Pak for Data System - Cyclops
Red Hat Enterprise Linux for x86_64
Red Hat Enterprise Linux for IBM z Systems
Red Hat Enterprise Linux for Power, little endian
Red Hat Enterprise Linux for ARM 64
openEuler
Fedora
coreutils
coreutils-debuginfo
coreutils-debugsource
coreutils-help
coreutils (Red Hat package)

Cybersecurity Help is currently unaware of any official solution to address this vulnerability.

coreutils - update to 8.32-16
coreutils-debuginfo - update to 8.32-16
coreutils-debugsource - update to 8.32-16
coreutils-help - update to 8.32-16
coreutils (Red Hat package) - addressed in versions 8.32-41.el9_8, 9.5-8.el10_2
coreutils - addressed in versions 9.5-12.fc41, 9.6-4.fc42
Cloud Pak for Data System - Cyclops - update to 11.3.1.1

• http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2025/05/27/2
• https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2025-5278
• https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2368764

• Out-of-bounds read in GNU Coreutils
• Fedora 42 update for coreutils
• Fedora 41 update for coreutils
• openEuler update for coreutils
• Multiple vulnerabilities in IBM Cloud Pak for Data System - Cyclops
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 update for coreutils
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 update for coreutils