Elfutils
CVE-2019-7148
MEDIUM
Vulnerability Assessment
| Weakness |
CWE
OWASP Top 10:2025
A06:2025 - Insecure Design
ASVS 5.0
V2 - Validation and Business Logic Resource allocation limits
MITRE ATT&CK
1 technique across 1 tactic: Impact The technique list with ATT&CK links and the kill-chain view is part of the Basic plan and up. |
| Impact | CVSS score of 6.5 (MEDIUM). Attack characteristics: network attack vector, low complexity, no privileges required, user interaction required. Public proof-of-concept exploit code is available. |
| Exploit ScenarioDerived | A remote attacker could exhaust system resources through uncontrolled allocation by sending crafted requests to the affected application. No authentication is required to exploit this vulnerability. |
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Alert meAnalysisAI
An attempted excessive memory allocation was discovered in the function read_long_names in elf_begin.c in libelf in elfutils 0.174. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
RemediationAI
No vendor patch is available at time of analysis. Monitor vendor advisories for updates. Set resource limits, implement rate limiting, validate input sizes.
Affects your stack
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Technical ContextAI · show details
This vulnerability is classified as Allocation of Resources Without Limits (CWE-770), which allows attackers to exhaust system resources through uncontrolled allocation. An attempted excessive memory allocation was discovered in the function read_long_names in elf_begin.c in libelf in elfutils 0.174. Remote attackers could leverage this vulnerability to cause a denial-of-service via crafted elf input, which leads to an out-of-memory exception. NOTE: The maintainers believe this is not a real issue, but instead a "warning caused by ASAN because the allocation is big. By setting ASAN_OPTIONS=allocator_may_return_null=1 and running the reproducer, nothing happens." Affected products include: Elfutils Project Elfutils.
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- Exploit and PoC references, threat intelligence from 22 sources
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Severity by source
AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Primary rating from NVD · only source for this CVE.
CVSS VectorNVD
DescriptionNVD
An attempted excessive memory allocation was discovered in the function read_long_names in elf_begin.c in libelf in elfutils 0.174. Remote attackers could leverage this vulnerability to cause a denial-of-service via crafted elf input, which leads to an out-of-memory exception. NOTE: The maintainers believe this is not a real issue, but instead a "warning caused by ASAN because the allocation is big. By setting ASAN_OPTIONS=allocator_may_return_null=1 and running the reproducer, nothing happens."
Threat Intelligence Overview
NVD
CVE.org
EPSS
How this decision was reached
The engine reads each signal below and applies a fixed list of rules from top to bottom. The first rule that matches sets the recommended action – like a statement, every line is shown.
What every action level means
SSVC AssessmentENISA
Priority Score
Attack Technique
Denial of Service attacks render applications or systems unavailable by overwhelming resources or triggering failure conditions.
Affected Products (CPE)NVD
libelf/elf_end.c in elfutils 0.173 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (double free and application cra
elfutils 0.170 has a buffer over-read in the ebl_dynamic_tag_name function of libebl/ebldynamictagname.c because SYMTAB_
A heap-based buffer over-read was discovered in the function read_srclines in dwarf_getsrclines.c in libdw in elfutils 0
An Invalid Memory Address Dereference exists in the function elf_end in libelf in elfutils through v0.174. Rated medium
elflint.c in elfutils 0.168 does not validate the number of sections and the number of segments, which allows remote att
The handle_gnu_hash function in readelf.c in elfutils 0.168 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (heap-b
The check_sysv_hash function in elflint.c in elfutils 0.168 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (heap-b
The check_group function in elflint.c in elfutils 0.168 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (heap-based
The ebl_object_note_type_name function in eblobjnotetypename.c in elfutils 0.168 allows remote attackers to cause a deni
The check_symtab_shndx function in elflint.c in elfutils 0.168 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (hea
elf_compress.c in elfutils 0.168 does not validate the zlib compression factor, which allows remote attackers to cause a
In elfutils 0.175, a heap-based buffer over-read was discovered in the function elf32_xlatetom in elf32_xlatetom.c in li
GitHub PoC
Exploit-DB