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 (36628)
A maliciously crafted X_B file when parsed through Autodesk® AutoCAD® 2023 could lead to memory corruption vulnerability by write access violation. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
A maliciously crafted X_B file when parsed through Autodesk® AutoCAD® 2023 could lead to memory corruption vulnerability by read access violation. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
A maliciously crafted X_B file when parsed through Autodesk® AutoCAD® 2023 can be used to write beyond the allocated buffer causing a Stack Buffer Overflow. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
A maliciously crafted X_B file when parsed through Autodesk® AutoCAD® 2023 can force an Out-of-Bound Read. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
mp4v2 v2.0.0 was discovered to contain a heap buffer overflow via the MP4GetVideoProfileLevel function at /src/mp4.cpp. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
ncurses before 6.4 20230408, when used by a setuid application, allows local users to trigger security-relevant memory corruption via malformed data in a terminfo database file that is found in. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. Public exploit code available.
Adobe Substance 3D Designer version 12.4.0 (and earlier) is affected by a Heap-based Buffer Overflow vulnerability that could result in arbitrary code execution in the context of the current user. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Adobe Substance 3D Designer version 12.4.0 (and earlier) is affected by an out-of-bounds write vulnerability that could result in arbitrary code execution in the context of the current user. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Adobe Substance 3D Designer version 12.4.0 (and earlier) is affected by a Heap-based Buffer Overflow vulnerability that could result in arbitrary code execution in the context of the current user. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Adobe Substance 3D Designer version 12.4.0 (and earlier) is affected by a Stack-based Buffer Overflow vulnerability that could result in arbitrary code execution in the context of the current user. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Adobe Substance 3D Designer version 12.4.0 (and earlier) is affected by an out-of-bounds read vulnerability when parsing a crafted file, which could result in a read past the end of an allocated. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Adobe Substance 3D Designer version 12.4.0 (and earlier) is affected by an out-of-bounds read vulnerability when parsing a crafted file, which could result in a read past the end of an allocated. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Adobe Substance 3D Designer version 12.4.0 (and earlier) is affected by an out-of-bounds read vulnerability when parsing a crafted file, which could result in a read past the end of an allocated. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Memory Corruption in Multimedia Framework due to integer overflow when synx bind is called along with synx signal. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is low attack complexity.
Adobe Substance 3D Stager version 2.0.1 (and earlier) is affected by an out-of-bounds read vulnerability that could lead to disclosure of sensitive memory. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Adobe Substance 3D Stager version 2.0.1 (and earlier) is affected by an out-of-bounds read vulnerability when parsing a crafted file, which could result in a read past the end of an allocated memory. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Adobe Substance 3D Stager version 2.0.1 (and earlier) is affected by a Heap-based Buffer Overflow vulnerability that could result in arbitrary code execution in the context of the current user. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Adobe Substance 3D Stager version 2.0.1 (and earlier) is affected by an out-of-bounds read vulnerability when parsing a crafted file, which could result in a read past the end of an allocated memory. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Adobe Substance 3D Stager version 2.0.1 (and earlier) is affected by an out-of-bounds read vulnerability when parsing a crafted file, which could result in a read past the end of an allocated memory. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Adobe Substance 3D Stager version 2.0.1 (and earlier) is affected by a Stack-based Buffer Overflow vulnerability that could result in arbitrary code execution in the context of the current user. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Adobe Substance 3D Stager version 2.0.1 (and earlier) is affected by an out-of-bounds read vulnerability when parsing a crafted file, which could result in a read past the end of an allocated memory. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Adobe Substance 3D Stager version 2.0.1 (and earlier) is affected by an out-of-bounds read vulnerability that could lead to disclosure of sensitive memory. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Adobe Substance 3D Stager version 2.0.1 (and earlier) is affected by a Stack-based Buffer Overflow vulnerability that could result in arbitrary code execution in the context of the current user. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Adobe Digital Editions version 4.5.11.187303 (and earlier) is affected by an out-of-bounds write vulnerability that could result in arbitrary code execution in the context of the current user. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
A heap-based buffer overflow issue was discovered in ImageMagick's ImportMultiSpectralQuantum() function in MagickCore/quantum-import.c. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available.
Adobe Acrobat Reader versions 23.001.20093 (and earlier) and 20.005.30441 (and earlier) are affected by an out-of-bounds read vulnerability when parsing a crafted file, which could result in a read. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Adobe Acrobat Reader versions 23.001.20093 (and earlier) and 20.005.30441 (and earlier) are affected by an out-of-bounds read vulnerability that could lead to disclosure of sensitive memory. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Adobe Acrobat Reader versions 23.001.20093 (and earlier) and 20.005.30441 (and earlier) are affected by an out-of-bounds write vulnerability that could result in arbitrary code execution in the. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Adobe Dimension version 3.4.8 (and earlier) is affected by an out-of-bounds read vulnerability that could lead to disclosure of sensitive memory. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity.
Adobe Dimension version 3.4.8 (and earlier) is affected by an out-of-bounds read vulnerability that could lead to disclosure of sensitive memory. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity.
Adobe Dimension version 3.4.8 (and earlier) is affected by an out-of-bounds read vulnerability that could lead to disclosure of sensitive memory. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity.
Adobe Dimension version 3.4.8 (and earlier) is affected by an out-of-bounds read vulnerability that could lead to disclosure of sensitive memory. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity.
Adobe Dimension version 3.4.8 (and earlier) is affected by an out-of-bounds read vulnerability that could lead to disclosure of sensitive memory. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity.
Adobe Dimension version 3.4.8 (and earlier) is affected by an out-of-bounds read vulnerability that could lead to disclosure of sensitive memory. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity.
Adobe Dimension version 3.4.8 (and earlier) is affected by an out-of-bounds read vulnerability that could lead to disclosure of sensitive memory. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity.
Adobe Dimension version 3.4.8 (and earlier) is affected by an out-of-bounds read vulnerability that could lead to disclosure of sensitive memory. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity.
Adobe Dimension version 3.4.8 (and earlier) is affected by an out-of-bounds read vulnerability that could lead to disclosure of sensitive memory. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity.
Adobe Dimension version 3.4.8 (and earlier) is affected by an out-of-bounds read vulnerability that could lead to disclosure of sensitive memory. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity.
Adobe Dimension version 3.4.8 (and earlier) is affected by an out-of-bounds read vulnerability that could lead to disclosure of sensitive memory. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity.
Adobe Dimension version 3.4.8 (and earlier) is affected by an out-of-bounds read vulnerability that could lead to disclosure of sensitive memory. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity.
Adobe Dimension version 3.4.8 (and earlier) is affected by an out-of-bounds write vulnerability that could result in arbitrary code execution in the context of the current user. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity.
Adobe Dimension version 3.4.8 (and earlier) is affected by an out-of-bounds write vulnerability that could result in arbitrary code execution in the context of the current user. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity.
Adobe Dimension version 3.4.8 (and earlier) is affected by an out-of-bounds read vulnerability when parsing a crafted file, which could result in a read past the end of an allocated memory structure. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity.
On affected platforms running Arista CloudEOS an issue in the Software Forwarding Engine (Sfe) can lead to a potential denial of service attack by sending malformed packets to the switch. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
client.c in gdhcp in ConnMan through 1.41 could be used by network-adjacent attackers (operating a crafted DHCP server) to cause a stack-based buffer overflow and denial of service, terminating the. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.5), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available.
Cesanta MJS v2.20.0 was discovered to contain a SEGV vulnerability via gc_sweep at src/mjs_gc.c. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
Bento4 v1.6.0-639 was discovered to contain an out-of-memory bug in the mp42avc component. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
An issue was discovered in IhisiSmm in Insyde InsydeH2O with kernel 5.0 through 5.5. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.8), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Bento4 v1.6.0-639 was discovered to contain a segmentation violation via the AP4_TrunAtom::SetDataOffset(int) function in Ap4TrunAtom.h. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
Microsoft Word Remote Code Execution Vulnerability. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available.
Raw Image Extension Remote Code Execution Vulnerability. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity.
Microsoft WDAC OLE DB provider for SQL Server Remote Code Execution Vulnerability. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity.
Windows Boot Manager Security Feature Bypass Vulnerability. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity.
Remote Desktop Protocol Client Information Disclosure Vulnerability. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity.
Windows Common Log File System Driver Information Disclosure Vulnerability. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is low attack complexity.
Visual Studio Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is low attack complexity.
Windows DNS Server Remote Code Execution Vulnerability. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.2), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity.
Windows Common Log File System Driver Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. Public exploit code available.
Windows Network Load Balancing Remote Code Execution Vulnerability. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity.
DHCP Server Service Remote Code Execution Vulnerability. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available.
Windows Bluetooth Driver Remote Code Execution Vulnerability. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is no authentication required.
Windows NTLM Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is low attack complexity.
Windows Ancillary Function Driver for WinSock Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.0).
praecis_parse in ntpd/refclock_palisade.c in NTP 4.2.8p15 has an out-of-bounds write. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.4), this vulnerability is no authentication required. No vendor patch available.
mstolfp in libntp/mstolfp.c in NTP 4.2.8p15 has an out-of-bounds write when adding a '\0' character. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.6), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required. No vendor patch available.
mstolfp in libntp/mstolfp.c in NTP 4.2.8p15 has an out-of-bounds write when copying the trailing number. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.6), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required. No vendor patch available.
mstolfp in libntp/mstolfp.c in NTP 4.2.8p15 has an out-of-bounds write when adding a decimal point. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.6), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required. No vendor patch available.
mstolfp in libntp/mstolfp.c in NTP 4.2.8p15 has an out-of-bounds write in the cp<cpdec while loop. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.6), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required. No vendor patch available.
Windows Secure Channel Denial of Service Vulnerability. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. This Out-of-bounds Read vulnerability could allow attackers to read data from memory outside the intended buffer boundaries.
Microsoft PostScript and PCL6 Class Printer Driver Remote Code Execution Vulnerability. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity.
Microsoft PostScript and PCL6 Class Printer Driver Remote Code Execution Vulnerability. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity.
Microsoft PostScript and PCL6 Class Printer Driver Remote Code Execution Vulnerability. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. This Out-of-bounds Read vulnerability could allow attackers to read data from memory outside the intended buffer boundaries.
Windows Graphics Component Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is low attack complexity.
Microsoft PostScript and PCL6 Class Printer Driver Information Disclosure Vulnerability. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity.
Microsoft SQL Server Remote Code Execution Vulnerability. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity.
An issue was discovered in the Arm Android Gralloc Module. Rated low severity (CVSS 3.3), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
An issue was discovered in IhisiSmm in Insyde InsydeH2O with kernel 5.0 through 5.5. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.4), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
An issue was discovered in ChipsetSvcSmm in Insyde InsydeH2O with kernel 5.0 through 5.5. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.8), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
An issue was discovered in IhisiSmm in Insyde InsydeH2O with kernel 5.0 through 5.5. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.8), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Microsoft Message Queuing (MSMQ) Denial of Service Vulnerability. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. This Out-of-bounds Read vulnerability could allow attackers to read data from memory outside the intended buffer boundaries.
Remote Procedure Call Runtime Information Disclosure Vulnerability. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. This Out-of-bounds Read vulnerability could allow attackers to read data from memory outside the intended buffer boundaries.
Remote Procedure Call Runtime Remote Code Execution Vulnerability. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity.
An out of bounds read exists in libjxl. Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.1), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. This Out-of-bounds Read vulnerability could allow attackers to read data from memory outside the intended buffer boundaries.
A vulnerability has been identified in JT Open (All versions < V11.3.2.0), JT Utilities (All versions < V13.3.0.0). Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Screen Creator Advance 2 Ver.0.1.1.4 Build01A and earlier is vulnerable to improper restriction of operations within the bounds of a memory buffer (CWE-119) due to improper check of its data size. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
A flaw was found in tiffcrop, a program distributed by the libtiff package. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.1), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
Certain Lexmark devices through 2023-02-19 have an Integer Overflow. Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Certain Lexmark devices through 2023-02-19 have an Out-of-bounds Write. Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
An out-of-bounds write issue was addressed with improved input validation. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.6), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
D-Link DIR878 1.30B08 was discovered to contain a stack overflow in the sub_48d630 function. Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.