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 (36635)
Adobe Framemaker versions 2019 Update 8 (and earlier) and 2020 Release Update 2 (and earlier) are affected by an out-of-bounds read vulnerability that could lead to disclosure of sensitive memory. Rated low severity (CVSS 3.3), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity.
Adobe Framemaker versions 2019 Update 8 (and earlier) and 2020 Release Update 2 (and earlier) are affected by an out-of-bounds read vulnerability that could lead to disclosure of sensitive memory. Rated low severity (CVSS 3.3), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity.
Acrobat Reader DC versions 2021.005.20060 (and earlier), 2020.004.30006 (and earlier) and 2017.011.30199 (and earlier) are affected by a Buffer Overflow vulnerability when parsing a specially crafted. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Adobe Framemaker versions 2019 Update 8 (and earlier) and 2020 Release Update 2 (and earlier) are affected by an out-of-bounds read vulnerability that could lead to disclosure of sensitive memory. Rated low severity (CVSS 3.3), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity.
Acrobat Reader DC versions 2021.005.20060 (and earlier), 2020.004.30006 (and earlier) and 2017.011.30199 (and earlier) are affected by an out-of-bounds read vulnerability that could lead to. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Acrobat Reader DC versions 2021.005.20060 (and earlier), 2020.004.30006 (and earlier) and 2017.011.30199 (and earlier) are affected by an out-of-bounds read vulnerability that could lead to. Rated low severity (CVSS 3.3), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Acrobat Reader DC versions 2021.005.20060 (and earlier), 2020.004.30006 (and earlier) and 2017.011.30199 (and earlier) are affected by a stack overflow vulnerability due to insecure handling of a. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.1), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Acrobat Reader DC versions 2021.005.20060 (and earlier), 2020.004.30006 (and earlier) and 2017.011.30199 (and earlier) are affected by a stack overflow vulnerability due to insecure handling of a. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.1), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Acrobat Reader DC versions 2021.005.20060 (and earlier), 2020.004.30006 (and earlier) and 2017.011.30199 (and earlier) are affected by an out-of-bounds read vulnerability that could lead to. Rated low severity (CVSS 3.3), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Acrobat Reader DC versions 2021.005.20060 (and earlier), 2020.004.30006 (and earlier) and 2017.011.30199 (and earlier) are affected by an out-of-bounds write vulnerability that could result in. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Adobe Framemaker versions 2019 Update 8 (and earlier) and 2020 Release Update 2 (and earlier) are affected by an out-of-bounds read vulnerability that could lead to disclosure of sensitive memory. Rated low severity (CVSS 3.3), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity.
Adobe Framemaker versions 2019 Update 8 (and earlier) and 2020 Release Update 2 (and earlier) are affected by an out-of-bounds read vulnerability that could lead to disclosure of sensitive memory. Rated low severity (CVSS 3.3), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity.
Adobe Framemaker versions 2019 Update 8 (and earlier) and 2020 Release Update 2 (and earlier) are affected by a memory corruption vulnerability due to insecure handling of a malicious PDF file,. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity.
Adobe Framemaker versions 2019 Update 8 (and earlier) and 2020 Release Update 2 (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.
Adobe Framemaker versions 2019 Update 8 (and earlier) and 2020 Release Update 2 (and earlier) are affected by a memory corruption vulnerability due to insecure handling of a malicious PDF file,. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity.
Adobe Framemaker versions 2019 Update 8 (and earlier) and 2020 Release Update 2 (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.
Adobe InDesign versions 16.3 (and earlier), and 16.3.1 (and earlier) are affected by an out-of-bounds read vulnerability that could result in arbitrary code execution in the context of the current. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
A buffer overflow vulnerability in WPG+0x1dda of Irfanview 4.57 allows attackers to execute arbitrary code via a crafted WPG file. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
A buffer overflow vulnerability in FORMATS!GetPlugInInfo+0x2de9 of Irfanview 4.57 allows attackers to execute arbitrary code via a crafted RLE file. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
A buffer overflow vulnerability in Formats!ReadRAS_W+0x1001 of Irfanview 4.57 allows attackers to execute arbitrary code via a crafted RLE file. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
A buffer overflow vulnerability in FORMATS!ReadRAS_W+0xa74 of Irfanview 4.57 allows attackers to execute arbitrary code via a crafted RLE file.0xa74. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
A buffer overflow vulnerability in FORMATS!ReadRAS_W+0xa30 of Irfanview 4.57 allows attackers to execute arbitrary code via a crafted RLE file. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
A buffer overflow vulnerability in FORMATS!Read_Utah_RLE+0x340 of Irfanview 4.57 allows attackers to execute arbitrary code via a crafted RLE file. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
A buffer overflow vulnerability in FORMATS!Read_Utah_RLE+0x37a of Irfanview 4.57 allows attackers to execute arbitrary code via a crafted RLE file. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
A buffer overflow vulnerability in FORMATS!ReadPVR_W+0xfa of Irfanview 4.57 allows attackers to cause a denial of service (DOS) via a crafted PVR file. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
A vulnerability has been identified in NX 1980 Series (All versions < V1984), Solid Edge SE2021 (All versions < SE2021MP8). Rated low severity (CVSS 3.3), this vulnerability is 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 NX 1980 Series (All versions < V1984), Solid Edge SE2021 (All versions < SE2021MP8). Rated low severity (CVSS 3.3), this vulnerability is 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.
Out of bounds write vulnerability in the JPEG parsing code of Netop Vision Pro up to and including 9.7.2 allows an adjacent unauthenticated attacker to write to arbitrary memory potentially leading. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.5), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
Adobe Photoshop versions 21.2.11 (and earlier) and 22.5 (and earlier) are affected by a Buffer Overflow vulnerability when parsing a specially crafted SVG file. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Adobe Premiere Elements version 2021.2235820 (and earlier) is affected by a memory corruption vulnerability due to insecure handling of a malicious m4a file, potentially resulting in arbitrary code. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity.
Adobe Premiere Elements version 2021.2235820 (and earlier) is affected by a memory corruption vulnerability due to insecure handling of a malicious psd file, potentially resulting in arbitrary code. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity.
Adobe Premiere Elements version 2021.2235820 (and earlier) is affected by a memory corruption vulnerability due to insecure handling of a malicious m4a file, potentially resulting in arbitrary code. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity.
Adobe Premiere Elements version 2021.2235820 (and earlier) is affected by a memory corruption vulnerability due to insecure handling of a malicious TIFF file, potentially resulting in arbitrary code. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity.
Photoshop Elements versions 2021 build 19.0 (20210304.m.156367) (and earlier) are affected by an out-of-bounds write vulnerability that could result in arbitrary code execution in the context of the. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity.
Adobe Premiere Elements version 2021.2235820 (and earlier) is affected by a memory corruption vulnerability due to insecure handling of a malicious png file, potentially resulting in arbitrary code. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity.
Adobe svg-native-viewer 8182d14dfad5d1e10f53ed830328d7d9a3cfa96d and earlier versions are affected by a heap buffer overflow vulnerability due to insecure handling of a malicious .svg file,. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity.
Adobe InCopy version 11.1 (and earlier) is affected by a memory corruption vulnerability due to insecure handling of a malicious XML file, potentially resulting in arbitrary code execution in the. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity.
Adobe InCopy version 11.1 (and earlier) is affected by a memory corruption vulnerability due to insecure handling of a malicious TIFF file, potentially resulting in arbitrary code execution in the. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity.
An issue was discovered in SKALE sgxwallet 1.58.3. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, 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.
In ccu, there is a possible out of bounds read due to incorrect error handling. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.9), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
In m4u, 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 m4u, 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 memory management driver, there is a possible memory corruption due to an integer overflow. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
In memory management driver, there is a possible information disclosure due to a missing bounds check. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
x509_constraints_parse_mailbox in lib/libcrypto/x509/x509_constraints.c in LibreSSL through 3.4.0 has a stack-based buffer over-read. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
Heap-based buffer overflow in SuiteLink server while processing commands 0x05/0x06. Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity.
Apache OpenOffice opens dBase/DBF documents and shows the contents as spreadsheets. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. This Buffer Copy without Size Check vulnerability could allow attackers to overflow a buffer to corrupt adjacent memory.
A vulnerability in the Control and Provisioning of Wireless Access Points (CAPWAP) protocol processing of Cisco IOS XE Software for Cisco Catalyst 9000 Family Wireless Controllers could allow an. Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
A vulnerability in the vDaemon process in Cisco IOS XE SD-WAN Software could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to cause a buffer overflow on an affected device. Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
A vulnerability in the authentication, authorization, and accounting (AAA) function of Cisco IOS XE Software could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to bypass NETCONF or RESTCONF. Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.1), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
In GetTimeStampAndPkt of DumpstateDevice.cpp, there is a possible out of bounds write due to an incorrect bounds check. Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
An issue was discovered in swftools through 20200710. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
An issue was discovered in swftools through 20200710. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
An issue was discovered in swftools through 20200710. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
An issue was discovered in swftools through 20200710. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
An issue was discovered in swftools through 20200710. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
An issue was discovered in swftools through 20200710. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
An issue was discovered in swftools through 20200710. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
An issue was discovered in swftools through 20200710. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
An issue was discovered in swftools through 20200710. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
An issue was discovered in sela through 20200412. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
An issue was discovered in sela through 20200412. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
An issue was discovered in sela through 20200412. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
An issue was discovered in sela through 20200412. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
An issue was discovered in sela through 20200412. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
An issue was discovered in pdftools through 20200714. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
An issue was discovered in ncurses through v6.2-1. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available.
An issue was discovered in libxsmm through v1.16.1-93. 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.
An issue was discovered in libslax through v0.22.1. 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.
An issue was discovered in libslax through v0.22.1. 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.
An issue was discovered in libslax through v0.22.1. 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.
An issue was discovered in libredwg through v0.10.1.3751. 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.
An issue was discovered in libredwg through v0.10.1.3751. 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.
An issue was discovered in libredwg through v0.10.1.3751. 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.
An issue was discovered in libredwg through v0.10.1.3751. 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.
An issue was discovered in libjpeg through 2020021. 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.
Integer Overflow vulnerability in function filter16_roberts in libavfilter/vf_convolution.c in Ffmpeg 4.2.1, allows attackers to cause a Denial of Service or other unspecified impacts. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available.
An issue was discovered in pbrt through 20200627. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
An issue was discovered in libiff through 20190123. 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.
An issue was discovered in LIEF through 0.11.4. 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.
An issue was discovered in libgig through 20200507. 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.
An issue was discovered in heif through v3.6.2. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
An issue was discovered in heif through v3.6.2. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
An issue was discovered in hcxtools through 6.1.6. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
An issue was discovered in gravity through 0.8.1. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
An issue was discovered in faad2 through 2.10.0. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
An issue was discovered in faad2 through 2.10.0. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
An issue was discovered in faad2 through 2.10.0. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
An issue was discovered in faad2 through 2.10.0. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
An issue was discovered in faad2 before 2.10.0. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available.