Buffer Overflow
A buffer overflow occurs when a program writes more data to a memory buffer than it was allocated to hold, causing the excess data to spill into adjacent memory regions.
How It Works
A buffer overflow occurs when a program writes more data to a memory buffer than it was allocated to hold, causing the excess data to spill into adjacent memory regions. This overwrites whatever data or code exists there, corrupting program state and potentially giving attackers control over execution flow.
Stack-based overflows are the most common variant. When a function allocates a fixed-size buffer on the stack and then copies user-controlled input without proper bounds checking, attackers can overflow past the buffer to overwrite the function's return address. When the function completes, instead of returning to legitimate code, execution jumps to attacker-specified memory containing malicious shellcode. Heap-based overflows work differently—they corrupt heap metadata like chunk size fields or free list pointers, leading to arbitrary memory writes when the allocator processes the corrupted structures.
Modern exploitation bypasses defensive mechanisms through techniques like Return-Oriented Programming (ROP), which chains together existing code snippets to avoid non-executable memory protections. Attackers may also use heap spraying to reliably position shellcode at predictable addresses, defeating address randomization.
Impact
- Remote code execution — attacker gains ability to run arbitrary commands with the privileges of the vulnerable process
- Privilege escalation — exploiting kernel or setuid program overflows to gain root/SYSTEM access
- Denial of service — crashes and memory corruption that render systems unusable
- Information disclosure — reading sensitive data from adjacent memory regions that should be inaccessible
- Authentication bypass — overwriting security-critical variables like permission flags or user IDs
Real-World Examples
Fortinet FortiOS suffered a critical buffer overflow (CVE-2025-32756) that allowed unauthenticated remote attackers to execute code as root on firewalls and VPN gateways. Attackers actively exploited this to compromise enterprise network perimeters before patches were available.
The Slammer worm from 2003 exploited a stack overflow in Microsoft SQL Server, spreading to 75,000 hosts in ten minutes by sending a single malformed UDP packet that overwrote the return address with shellcode. No authentication was required.
OpenSSH historically contained a heap overflow in challenge-response authentication that allowed pre-authentication remote root compromise on Unix systems, demonstrating how memory corruption in privileged network services creates maximum impact scenarios.
Mitigation
- Memory-safe languages — Rust, Go, and modern managed languages prevent buffer overflows by design through automatic bounds checking
- Stack canaries — random values placed before return addresses that detect corruption before control transfer
- Address Space Layout Randomization (ASLR) — randomizes memory locations making exploitation less reliable
- Data Execution Prevention (DEP/NX) — marks memory regions as non-executable, preventing direct shellcode execution
- Bounds checking — validate input sizes before copying, use safe functions like
strncpyinstead ofstrcpy - Fuzzing and static analysis — automated testing to discover overflows before deployment
Recent CVEs (36463)
In ccu, there is a possible out of bounds write due to a missing bounds check. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.7), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
In ccu, there is a possible out of bounds write due to a missing bounds check. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.7), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
In ccu, there is a possible out of bounds write due to a missing bounds check. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.7), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
In isp, there is a possible out of bounds read due to a missing bounds check. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.4), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
In ccu, there is a possible out of bounds write due to a missing bounds check. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.7), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
In ccu, there is a possible out of bounds write due to a missing bounds check. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.7), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
In ccu, there is a possible out of bounds write due to a missing bounds check. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.7), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
In atci, there is a possible out of bounds write due to a missing bounds check. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.7), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
In da, there is a possible out of bounds read due to a missing bounds check. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.2), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
In m4u, there is a possible out of bounds write due to a missing bounds check. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.7), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
In da, there is a possible out of bounds write due to a missing bounds check. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.4), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
A vulnerability was found in Tenda AC6 15.03.05.19 and classified as critical. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.7), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
The issue was addressed with improved bounds checks. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
The issue was addressed with improved bounds checks. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
The issue was addressed with improved bounds checks. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
A vulnerability was found in Tenda AC15 15.03.05.19 and classified as critical. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.7), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
A vulnerability has been found in Tenda AC15 15.03.05.19 and classified as critical. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.7), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
An issue in the Bluetooth Low Energy implementation of Cypress Bluetooth SDK v3.66 allows attackers to cause a Denial of Service (DoS) via supplying a crafted LL_PAUSE_ENC_REQ packet. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.5), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Stack-based buffer overflow vulnerability exists in multiple laser printers and MFPs which implement Ricoh Web Image Monitor. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.7), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required. No vendor patch available.
An issue was discovered in Ollama before 0.1.46. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.2), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
A vulnerability was found in SourceCodester Airport Booking Management System 1.0 and classified as critical. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.8), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
Client / Server PCs with the HP Smart Universal Printing Driver installed are potentially vulnerable to Remote Code Execution and/or Elevation of Privilege. Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
An issue in radare2 v5.8.0 through v5.9.4 allows a local attacker to cause a denial of service via the __bf_div function. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
In Eclipse Mosquitto, from version 1.3.2 through 2.0.18, if a malicious broker sends a crafted SUBACK packet with no reason codes, a client using libmosquitto may make out of bounds memory access. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.2), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available.
A maliciously crafted DWG file when parsed in acdb25.dll through Autodesk AutoCAD can force a Memory Corruption vulnerability. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
A maliciously crafted DWG file, when parsed in acdb25.dll through Autodesk AutoCAD, may force an Out-of-Bounds Write vulnerability. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
A maliciously crafted CATPART file when parsed in CC5Dll.dll through Autodesk AutoCAD can force an Out-of-Bounds Read vulnerability. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
A maliciously crafted DWG file when parsed in ACAD.exe through Autodesk AutoCAD can force a Memory Corruption vulnerability. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
A maliciously crafted SLDPRT file when parsed in odxsw_dll.dll through Autodesk AutoCAD can force a Memory Corruption vulnerability. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
A maliciously crafted STP file when parsed in ACTranslators.exe through Autodesk AutoCAD can force a Memory Corruption vulnerability. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
A maliciously crafted STP file when parsed in ACTranslators.exe through Autodesk AutoCAD can force a Memory Corruption vulnerability. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
A maliciously crafted STP file when parsed in ASMDATAX230A.dll through Autodesk AutoCAD can force a Memory Corruption vulnerability. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
A maliciously crafted MODEL file, when parsed in libodxdll.dll through Autodesk AutoCAD, may force an Out-of-Bounds Write vulnerability. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
A maliciously crafted MODEL file when parsed in libodxdll.dll through Autodesk AutoCAD can force a Heap-Based Overflow vulnerability. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
A maliciously crafted CATPART file, when parsed in ASMKERN230A.dll through Autodesk AutoCAD, may force an Out-of-Bounds Write vulnerability. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
A maliciously crafted CATPART file when parsed in AcTranslators.exe through Autodesk AutoCAD can force a Memory Corruption vulnerability. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
A maliciously crafted 3DM file when parsed in AcTranslators.exe through Autodesk AutoCAD can force a Heap-Based Buffer Overflow vulnerability. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
A maliciously crafted SLDPRT file when parsed in odxsw_dll.dll through Autodesk AutoCAD can force a Out-of-Bounds Read vulnerability. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
A maliciously crafted SLDPRT file when parsed in odxsw_dll.dll through Autodesk AutoCAD can force a Out-of-Bounds Read vulnerability. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
A maliciously crafted DWG file, when parsed through Autodesk AutoCAD and certain AutoCAD-based products, can force a Stack-based Buffer Overflow. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
A maliciously crafted DWG file, when parsed through Autodesk AutoCAD and certain AutoCAD-based products, may force an Out-of-Bounds Write vulnerability. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
A maliciously crafted SLDPRT file when parsed in odxsw_dll.dll through Autodesk AutoCAD can force a Heap Based Buffer Overflow vulnerability. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Potential race conditions in IndexedDB could have caused memory corruption, leading to a potentially exploitable crash. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required. No vendor patch available.
Memory safety bugs present in Firefox 131, Firefox ESR 128.3, and Thunderbird 128.3. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Repeated writes to history interface attributes could have been used to cause a Denial of Service condition in the browser. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: parport: Proper fix for array out-of-bounds access The recent fix for array out-of-bounds accesses replaced sprintf() calls blindly. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. This Out-of-bounds Read vulnerability could allow attackers to read data from memory outside the intended buffer boundaries.
An out-of-bounds read was addressed with improved bounds checking. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
An out-of-bounds access issue was addressed with improved bounds checking. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
An out-of-bounds write issue was addressed with improved input validation. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
An out-of-bounds read was addressed with improved input validation. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
An out-of-bounds read was addressed with improved input validation. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
An out-of-bounds read was addressed with improved input validation. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
The issue was addressed with improved memory handling. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
A memory corruption issue was addressed with improved input validation. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
An out-of-bounds access issue was addressed with improved bounds checking. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
This issue was addressed with improved checks. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
A buffer overflow was addressed with improved size validation. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
The issue was addressed with improved checks. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
The Spotify app 8.9.58 for iOS has a buffer overflow in its use of strcat. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: uprobe: avoid out-of-bounds memory access of fetching args Uprobe needs to fetch args into a percpu buffer, and then copy to ring. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. This Out-of-bounds Write vulnerability could allow attackers to write data beyond allocated buffer boundaries leading to code execution or crashes.
A vulnerability was found in Tenda AC1206 up to 20241027. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.7), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
NVIDIA GPU Display Driver for Windows contains a vulnerability in the user mode layer, where an unprivileged regular user can cause an out-of-bounds read. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
NVIDIA GPU Display Driver for Windows contains a vulnerability in the user mode layer, where an unprivileged regular user can cause an out-of-bounds read. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
NVIDIA GPU Display Driver for Windows contains a vulnerability in the user mode layer, where an unprivileged regular user can cause an out-of-bounds read. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
NVIDIA GPU Display Driver for Windows contains a vulnerability in the user mode layer, where an unprivileged regular user can cause an out-of-bounds read. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
NVIDIA GPU Display Driver for Windows contains a vulnerability in the user mode layer, where an unprivileged regular user can cause an out-of-bounds read. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
CVE-2024-10387 IMPACT A Denial-of-Service vulnerability exists in the affected product. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.7), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
In valid_address of syscall.c, there is a possible out of bounds read due to an incorrect bounds check. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
In vring_init of external/headers/include/virtio/virtio_ring.h, there is a possible out of bounds write due to a logic error in the code. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
there is a possible out of bounds read due to a missing bounds check. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
In lwis_allocator_free of lwis_allocator.c, there is a possible memory corruption due to a use after free. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
In TrustySharedMemoryManager::GetSharedMemory of ondevice/trusty/trusty_shared_memory_manager.cc, there is a possible out of bounds read due to an incorrect bounds check. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
In ffu_flash_pack of ffu.c, there is a possible out of bounds read due to an integer overflow. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.4), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
In gsc_gsa_rescue of gsc_gsa.c, there is a possible out of bounds read due to an incorrect bounds check. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
In vring_size of external/headers/include/virtio/virtio_ring.h, there is a possible out of bounds write due to an integer overflow. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
In sms_ExtractCbLanguage of sms_CellBroadcast.c, there is a possible out of bounds read due to a missing bounds check. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
In ProtocolEmbmsSaiListAdapter::Init() of protocolembmsadapter.cpp, there is a possible out of bounds read due to a missing bounds check. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
In pmucal_rae_handle_seq_int of flexpmu_cal_rae.c, there is a possible out of bounds read due to a buffer overflow. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
In ProtocolMiscHwConfigChangeAdapter::GetData() of protocolmiscadapter.cpp, there is a possible out-of-bounds read due to a missing bounds check. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
In mm_GetMobileIdIndexForNsUpdate of mm_GmmPduCodec.c, there is a possible out of bounds write due to an incorrect bounds check. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Sharp and Toshiba Tec MFPs provide the web page to download data, where query parameters in HTTP requests are improperly processed and resulting in an Out-of-bounds Read vulnerability. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Sharp and Toshiba Tec MFPs improperly process HTTP request headers, resulting in an Out-of-bounds Read vulnerability. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Sharp and Toshiba Tec MFPs contain multiple Out-of-bounds Read vulnerabilities, due to improper processing of keyword search input and improper processing of SOAP messages. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
A vulnerability classified as critical has been found in SourceCodester Payroll Management System 1.0. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.3), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
A vulnerability was found in Tenda RX9 Pro 22.03.02.20. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.7), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
A segmentation fault (SEGV) was detected in the SortByPTypeProcess::Execute function in the Assimp library during fuzz testing with AddressSanitizer. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.2), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
A segmentation fault (SEGV) was detected in the Assimp::SplitLargeMeshesProcess_Triangle::UpdateNode function within the Assimp library during fuzz testing using AddressSanitizer. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
A heap-buffer-overflow vulnerability has been identified in the OpenDDLParser::parseStructure function within the Assimp library, specifically during the processing of OpenGEX files. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
pure-ftpd before 1.0.52 is vulnerable to Buffer Overflow. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.6), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
HTMLDOC v1.9.18 contains a buffer overflow in parse_pre function,ps-pdf.cxx:5681. Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available.