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 (5404)
An Out-of-bounds Write in RT-Labs P-Net version 1.0.1 or earlier allows an attacker to induce a crash in IO devices that use the library by sending a malicious RPC packet. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
An Heap-based Buffer Overflow in RT-Labs P-Net version 1.0.1 or earlier allows an attacker to corrupt the memory of IO devices that use the library by sending a malicious RPC packet. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required. No vendor patch available.
An Heap-based Buffer Overflow in RT-Labs P-Net version 1.0.1 or earlier allows an attacker to induce a crash in IO devices that use the library by sending a malicious RPC packet. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
An Heap-based Buffer Overflow in RT-Labs P-Net version 1.0.1 or earlier allows an attacker to induce a crash in IO devices that use the library by sending a malicious RPC packet. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
An Heap-based Buffer Overflow in RT-Labs P-Net version 1.0.1 or earlier allows an attacker to induce a crash in IO devices that use the library by sending a malicious RPC packet. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Out-of-bounds Read vulnerability in unpack_response (conn.c) in libplctag from 2.0 through 2.6.3 allows Overread Buffers via network. Rated low severity (CVSS 3.1), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required. No vendor patch available.
Out-of-bounds Read vulnerability in unpack_response (session.c) in libplctag from 2.0 through 2.6.3 allows Overread Buffers via network. Rated low severity (CVSS 3.1), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required. No vendor patch available.
There is a stack overflow vulnerability in Tenda RX3 V1.0br_V16.03.13.11 In the fromSetWifiGusetBasic function of the web url /goform/ WifiGuestSet, the manipulation of the parameter shareSpeed leads. Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Incorrect JSON input stringification in Google's Tensorflow serving versions up to 2.18.0 allows for potentially unbounded recursion leading to server crash. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.9), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity.
Libxmp through 4.6.2 has a stack-based buffer overflow in depack_pha in loaders/prowizard/pha.c via a malformed Pha format tracker module in a .mod file. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.6), this vulnerability is no authentication required. No vendor patch available.
In Tenda RX3 V1.0br_V16.03.13.11 in the GetParentControlInfo function of the web url /goform/GetParentControlInfo, the manipulation of the parameter mac leads to stack overflow. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Finit provides fast init for Linux systems. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.6). No vendor patch available.
A vulnerability, which was classified as critical, was found in Tenda AC8 16.03.34.06. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.7), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
A flaw was found in GLib, which is vulnerable to an integer overflow in the g_string_insert_unichar() function. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required. No vendor patch available.
A vulnerability was found in Tenda DAP-1520 1.10B04_BETA02. 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 was found in Tenda DAP-1520 1.10B04_BETA02. 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 was found in Tenda DAP-1520 1.10B04_BETA02 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 was found in D-Link DIR-600L up to 2.07B01. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.7), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
A vulnerability was found in D-Link DIR-600L up to 2.07B01. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.7), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
A vulnerability was found in D-Link DIR-600L up to 2.07B01. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.7), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
A vulnerability was found in D-Link DIR-600L up to 2.07B01 and classified as critical. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.7), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
A vulnerability, which was classified as critical, was found in D-Link DIR-600L up to 2.07B01. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.7), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
A vulnerability has been found in D-Link DIR-600L up to 2.07B01 and classified as critical. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.7), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
A vulnerability, which was classified as critical, has been found in D-Link DIR-600L up to 2.07B01. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.7), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
in OpenHarmony v5.0.3 and prior versions allow a local attacker arbitrary code execution in pre-installed apps through out-of-bounds write. Rated low severity (CVSS 3.8), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
in OpenHarmony v5.0.3 and prior versions allow a local attacker cause DOS through buffer overflow. Rated low severity (CVSS 3.3), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Memory corruption while processing escape code, when DisplayId is passed with large unsigned value. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Memory corruption while processing image encoding, when configuration is NULL in IOCTL parameter. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Memory corruption while processing image encoding, when input buffer length is 0 in IOCTL call. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Memory corruption while reading response from FW, when buffer size is changed by FW while driver is using this size to write null character at the end of buffer. 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.
Memory corruption while reading the FW response from the shared queue. 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.
Memory corruption while processing an IOCTL request, when buffer significantly exceeds the command argument limit. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Memory corruption while processing a message, when the buffer is controlled by a Guest VM, the value can be changed continuously. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Transient DOS while parsing per STA profile in ML IE. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity.
Memory corruption while processing a data structure, when an iterator is accessed after it has been removed, potential failures occur. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. This Use After Free vulnerability could allow attackers to access freed memory to execute arbitrary code or crash the application.
Transient DOS while processing of a registration acceptance OTA due to incorrect ciphering key data IE. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Memory corruption while decoding of OTA messages from T3448 IE. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.2), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Memory corruption during the FRS UDS generation process. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Memory corruption while triggering commands in the PlayReady Trusted application. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Memory corruption during memory mapping into protected VM address space due to incorrect API restrictions. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Memory corruption during memory assignment to headless peripheral VM due to incorrect error code handling. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Memory corruption while reading secure file. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Memory corruption while processing an IOCTL call to set mixer controls. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.6), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. This Buffer Copy without Size Check vulnerability could allow attackers to overflow a buffer to corrupt adjacent memory.
Memory corruption can occur during context user dumps due to inadequate checks on buffer length. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.7), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. This Buffer Copy without Size Check vulnerability could allow attackers to overflow a buffer to corrupt adjacent memory.
Memory corruption while handling multiple IOCTL calls from userspace to operate DMA operations. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.6), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. This Use After Free vulnerability could allow attackers to access freed memory to execute arbitrary code or crash the application.
Memory corruption while sound model registration for voice activation with audio kernel driver. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.6), 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.
Memory corruption may occur when invoking IOCTL calls from userspace to the camera kernel driver to dump request information, due to a missing memory requirement check. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is low attack complexity.
Memory corruption while acquire and update IOCTLs during IFE output resource ID validation. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is low attack complexity.
Memory corruption while invoking IOCTL calls from userspace to camera kernel driver to dump request information. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is low attack complexity.
Memory corruption while prociesing command buffer buffer in OPE module. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is low attack complexity.
Memory corruption Camera kernel when large number of devices are attached through userspace. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. This Integer Overflow vulnerability could allow attackers to cause unexpected behavior through arithmetic overflow.
Memory corruption during array access in Camera kernel due to invalid index from invalid command data. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is low attack complexity.
Memory corruption may occur during IO configuration processing when the IO port count is invalid. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.6), this vulnerability is low attack complexity.
Memory corruption due to improper bounds check while command handling in camera-kernel driver. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.7), this vulnerability is low attack complexity.
Memory corruption while encoding JPEG format. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. This Use After Free vulnerability could allow attackers to access freed memory to execute arbitrary code or crash the application.
Memory corruption during concurrent buffer access due to modification of the reference count. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. This Use After Free vulnerability could allow attackers to access freed memory to execute arbitrary code or crash the application.
Memory corruption when blob structure is modified by user-space after kernel verification. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is low attack complexity.
Memory corruption during concurrent access to server info object due to incorrect reference count update. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. This Use After Free vulnerability could allow attackers to access freed memory to execute arbitrary code or crash the application.
Memory corruption while handling schedule request in Camera Request Manager(CRM) due to invalid link count in the corresponding session. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.6), 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.
Memory corruption during concurrent access to server info object due to unprotected critical field. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.6), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. This Use After Free vulnerability could allow attackers to access freed memory to execute arbitrary code or crash the application.
Memory corruption during concurrent SSR execution due to race condition on the global maps list. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. This Use After Free vulnerability could allow attackers to access freed memory to execute arbitrary code or crash the application.
Out-of-bounds data read vulnerability in the authorization module Impact: Successful exploitation of this vulnerability may affect service confidentiality. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.2), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Out-of-bounds array read/write vulnerability in the kernel module Impact: Successful exploitation of this vulnerability may affect availability. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5). No vendor patch available.
Out-of-Bounds Read in Virglrenderer in ChromeOS 16093.57.0 allows a malicious guest VM to achieve arbitrary address access within the crosvm sandboxed process, potentially leading to VM escape via. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
A vulnerability was found in Tenda AC1206 up to 15.03.06.23. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.7), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
A vulnerability was found in Tenda AC1206 up to 15.03.06.23. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.7), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
A vulnerability, which was classified as critical, has been found in PCMan FTP Server 2.0.7. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.9), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
A vulnerability classified as critical was found in PCMan FTP Server 2.0.7. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.9), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
A vulnerability classified as critical has been found in PCMan FTP Server 2.0.7. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.9), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
Heap buffer overflow in HTML in Google Chrome prior to 136.0.7103.59 allowed a remote attacker to potentially exploit heap corruption via a crafted HTML page. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Out of bounds memory access in DevTools in Google Chrome prior to 136.0.7103.59 allowed a remote attacker who convinced a user to engage in specific UI gestures to potentially exploit heap corruption. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
In thermal, there is a possible out of bounds write due to a race condition. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.0). No vendor patch available.
In scp, there is a possible out of bounds write due to a missing bounds check. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
A vulnerability classified as critical has been found in PCMan FTP Server 2.0.7. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.9), 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 PCMan FTP Server 2.0.7. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.9), 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 PCMan FTP Server 2.0.7. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.9), 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 PCMan FTP Server 2.0.7. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.9), 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 PCMan FTP Server 2.0.7 and classified as critical. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.9), 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 PCMan FTP Server 2.0.7. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.9), 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 PCMan FTP Server 2.0.7. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.9), 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 PCMan FTP Server 2.0.7. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.9), 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 PCMan FTP Server 2.0.7 and classified as critical. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.9), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
A vulnerability has been found in PCMan FTP Server 2.0.7 and classified as critical. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.9), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
OpenVM is a performant and modular zkVM framework built for customization and extensibility. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Out-Of-Bounds Write vulnerability exists in the OBJ file reading procedure in SOLIDWORKS eDrawings on Release SOLIDWORKS Desktop 2025. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
A vulnerability classified as critical was found in PCMan FTP Server 2.0.7. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.9), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
A vulnerability classified as critical has been found in PCMan FTP Server 2.0.7. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.9), 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 PCMan FTP Server 2.0.7. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.9), 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 PCMan FTP Server 2.0.7. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.9), 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 PCMan FTP Server 2.0.7. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.9), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.