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Glibc CVE-2025-15281

HIGH
Use of Uninitialized Resource (CWE-908)
2026-01-20 3ff69d7a-14f2-4f67-a097-88dee7810d18
High
Disputed · 7.5 NVD
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Vulnerability Assessment

Weakness
CWE
OWASP Top 10:2025
A06:2021 - Vulnerable and Outdated Components
ASVS 5.0
V15 - Secure Coding and Architecture Variable initialization
Impact

CVSS 7.5 (HIGH). Attack vector: Network. Complexity: Low. Privileges required: None. User interaction: None.

Exploit ScenarioDerived

An attacker could exploit this vulnerability to compromise the affected system.

This Week Schedule remediation this week. Why: HIGH severity (CVSS 7.0-8.9).
Patch available 0.1% exploitation probability (EPSS)

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AnalysisAIv1 – Mar 12, 2026

Calling wordexp with WRDE_REUSE in conjunction with WRDE_APPEND in the GNU C Library version 2.0 to version 2.42 may cause the interface to return uninitialized memory in the we_wordv member, which on subsequent calls to wordfree may abort the process. [CVSS 7.5 HIGH]

RemediationAI

A vendor patch is available — apply it immediately. Restrict network access to the affected service where possible.

Affects your stack

Find out whether the stacks and servers you run are on an affected version.

Checking this CVE against your own stacks and servers is part of the Basic plan and up.

Technical ContextAI · show details

Classified as CWE-908 (Use of Uninitialized Resource). Affects Glibc. Calling wordexp with WRDE_REUSE in conjunction with WRDE_APPEND in the GNU C Library version 2.0 to version 2.42 may cause the interface to return uninitialized memory in the we_wordv member, which on subsequent calls to wordfree may abort the process.

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  • Exploit and PoC references, threat intelligence from 22 sources

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Severity by source

Sources disagree (Low–High)
NVD PRIMARY 7.5 HIGH
AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
SUSE HIGH
Red Hat 5.9 LOW

vuln.today treats the vendor’s rating as authoritative. A higher third-party CVSS (e.g. CISA-ADP) is shown for transparency but does not drive the headline severity.

CVSS VectorNVD

Attack Vector
Network
Attack Complexity
Low
Privileges Required
None
User Interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

Lifecycle Timeline

2
Patch released
Feb 05, 2026 - 17:43 nvd
Patch available
CVE Published
Jan 20, 2026 - 14:16 nvd
HIGH 7.5

DescriptionCVE.org

Calling wordexp with WRDE_REUSE in conjunction with WRDE_APPEND in the GNU C Library version 2.0 to version 2.42 may cause the interface to return uninitialized memory in the we_wordv member, which on subsequent calls to wordfree may abort the process.

Executive ViewAI

Why It Matters

Organizations using conjunction with WRDE_APPEND in the GNU C Library face notable risk from CVE-2025-15281 rated CVSS 7.5. Exploitation could compromise the security of affected deployments. A patch is available and should be applied as part of regular vulnerability management.

Business Impact: High
Compensating Controls

Apply vendor patch. If immediate patching is not feasible: (1) Implement network-level access controls to limit exposure; (2) Enable enhanced monitoring and alerting; (3) Apply principle of least privilege.

Threat Intelligence Overview

EPSS Score
0.1%
Top 84% exploitable
Data Quality
5 sources
Confidence: Medium

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.

SignalValue
Severity HIGH
CISA KEV No
Public POC No
EPSS 0.1%
Patch available Yes
Active threat No
Deciding rule
HIGH severity (CVSS 7.0-8.9)
What every action level means
Emergency Immediate action required. Criteria: CRITICAL + in CISA KEV (actively exploited) without patch, OR CRITICAL + EPSS > 30% without patch, OR CRITICAL + active threat signals without patch.
Act Now Prioritize within 24-48h. Criteria: in KEV with patch available, OR CRITICAL + public POC, OR HIGH + EPSS > 10%, OR CRITICAL + active threat, OR any CRITICAL severity.
This Week Schedule remediation this week. Criteria: HIGH severity (CVSS 7.0-8.9). Patch within normal change window.
This Month Plan within 30 days. Criteria: MEDIUM severity (CVSS 4.0-6.9), lower exploitation probability. Include in regular patch cycle.
Monitor Track and reassess. Criteria: LOW severity (CVSS 0.1-3.9), minimal exploitation risk. No immediate action needed.

SSVC AssessmentENISA

SSVC Decision· derived
Scheduled
Exploitation· derived
None
System Exposure· derived
Open
Automatable· derived
Yes
Human Impact
High

Priority Score

38
Low Medium High Critical
KEV: 0
EPSS: 0
CVSS: +38
PoC: 0
Weaponized: 0
Threat intel: 0
Gov advisory: 0

Attack Technique

Information disclosure occurs when an application unintentionally exposes sensitive data that aids attackers in reconnaissance or directly compromises security.

Affected Products (CPE)CVE.org

cpe:2.3:a:gnu:glibc:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

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Vendor StatusVendor

SUSE

Severity: High
Product Status
Container private-registry/harbor-core:1.1.1-1.24 Container private-registry/harbor-exporter:1.1.1-1.24 Container private-registry/harbor-jobservice:1.1.1-1.24 Container private-registry/harbor-portal:1.1.1-1.25 Container private-registry/harbor-registry:1.1.1-1.24 Container private-registry/harbor-registryctl:1.1.1-1.24 Container private-registry/harbor-trivy-adapter:1.1.1-1.27 Container suse/manager/5.0/x86_64/proxy-httpd:latest Container suse/manager/5.0/x86_64/proxy-salt-broker:latest Container suse/manager/5.0/x86_64/proxy-squid:latest Container suse/manager/5.0/x86_64/proxy-ssh:latest Container suse/manager/5.0/x86_64/proxy-tftpd:latest Container suse/manager/5.0/x86_64/server-attestation:latest Container suse/manager/5.0/x86_64/server-hub-xmlrpc-api:latest Container suse/multi-linux-manager/5.1/x86_64/proxy-httpd:5.1.2.8.15.2 Container suse/multi-linux-manager/5.1/x86_64/proxy-salt-broker:5.1.2.9.13.2 Container suse/multi-linux-manager/5.1/x86_64/proxy-squid:5.1.2.8.13.1 Container suse/multi-linux-manager/5.1/x86_64/proxy-ssh:5.1.2.8.13.1 Container suse/multi-linux-manager/5.1/x86_64/proxy-tftpd:5.1.2.8.13.1 Container suse/multi-linux-manager/5.1/x86_64/server-attestation:5.1.2.8.15.2 Container suse/multi-linux-manager/5.1/x86_64/server-hub-xmlrpc-api:5.1.2.8.13.1 Container suse/multi-linux-manager/5.1/x86_64/server-saline:5.1.2.9.13.1 Image pr_15_7 Image proxy-httpd-image Image proxy-salt-broker-image Image proxy-squid-image Image proxy-ssh-image Image proxy-tftpd-image Image server-attestation-image Image server-database-migration-image Image server-hub-xmlrpc-api-image Image server-image Image server-migration-14-16-image Image server-saline-image Affected
Container rancher/elemental-channel/sl-micro:6.0-baremetal Container rancher/elemental-channel/sl-micro:6.0-base Container rancher/elemental-channel/sl-micro:6.0-kvm Container rancher/elemental-channel/sl-micro:6.0-rt Container suse/sl-micro/6.0/baremetal-iso-image:2.1.4-6.124 Container suse/sl-micro/6.0/base-iso-image:2.1.4-5.124 Container suse/sl-micro/6.0/kvm-iso-image:2.1.4-6.130 Container suse/sl-micro/6.0/rt-iso-image:2.1.4-6.125 Container suse/sl-micro/6.1/baremetal-iso-image:2.2.1-5.70 Container suse/sl-micro/6.1/base-iso-image:2.2.1-5.86 Container suse/sl-micro/6.1/kvm-iso-image:2.2.1-5.97 Container suse/sl-micro/6.1/rt-iso-image:2.2.1-5.74 Affected
Container suse/ltss/sle12.5/sles12sp5:8.5.203 Affected
Container suse/manager/4.3/proxy-httpd:4.3.16.2.9.73.23 Container suse/manager/4.3/proxy-salt-broker:4.3.16.2.9.63.24 Container suse/manager/4.3/proxy-squid:4.3.16.2.9.72.18 Container suse/manager/4.3/proxy-ssh:4.3.16.2.9.63.17 Container suse/manager/4.3/proxy-tftpd:4.3.16.2.9.63.18 Affected
Container suse/manager/5.0/x86_64/server-migration-14-16:latest Container suse/multi-linux-manager/5.1/x86_64/server-migration-14-16:5.1.2.8.13.1 Container suse/multi-linux-manager/5.1/x86_64/server-postgresql:5.1.2.6.13.1 Image SLES15-SP6-CHOST-BYOS Image SLES15-SP6-CHOST-BYOS-Aliyun Image SLES15-SP6-CHOST-BYOS-Azure Image SLES15-SP6-CHOST-BYOS-EC2 Image SLES15-SP6-CHOST-BYOS-GCE Image SLES15-SP6-CHOST-BYOS-GDC Image SLES15-SP6-CHOST-BYOS-SAP-CCloud Image SLES15-SP7-CHOST-BYOS-Aliyun Image SLES15-SP7-CHOST-BYOS-Azure Image SLES15-SP7-CHOST-BYOS-EC2 Image SLES15-SP7-CHOST-BYOS-GCE Image SLES15-SP7-CHOST-BYOS-GDC Image SLES15-SP7-CHOST-BYOS-SAP-CCloud Image server-postgresql-image Affected

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