Heap Overflow
A heap overflow occurs when a program writes data beyond the bounds of a buffer allocated in the heap memory region.
How It Works
A heap overflow occurs when a program writes data beyond the bounds of a buffer allocated in the heap memory region. Unlike stack overflows that target the call stack, heap overflows corrupt dynamically allocated memory managed by functions like malloc() or new. When a program allocates heap memory without properly validating input size, an attacker can supply excessive data that spills into adjacent heap chunks, corrupting heap metadata structures or neighboring objects.
Exploitation typically targets heap management metadata (chunk headers containing size and status information) or data in adjacent allocations. Attackers can overwrite function pointers stored in heap objects, C++ vtable pointers, or critical data fields to redirect program execution. Modern heap implementations use inline metadata, making them vulnerable to carefully crafted overflows that manipulate allocation structures to achieve arbitrary write primitives.
The attack difficulty varies by heap implementation. Attackers must understand the specific allocator's layout (glibc malloc, Windows heap, etc.) and often need information leaks to defeat ASLR. Heap feng shui techniques arrange heap allocations in predictable patterns, placing attacker-controlled data adjacent to target objects to maximize exploitation reliability.
Impact
- Arbitrary code execution: Overwrite function pointers or vtables to redirect control flow to attacker-supplied shellcode
- Memory corruption: Corrupt critical data structures, causing crashes or logic manipulation to bypass security checks
- Privilege escalation: Modify authorization flags or user context stored in heap objects
- Information disclosure: Trigger controlled crashes that leak sensitive data through error messages or core dumps
- Heap spray payloads: Combined with other vulnerabilities, create reliable exploitation paths across multiple platforms
Real-World Examples
The WhatsApp video call vulnerability (CVE-2019-11931) exploited a heap overflow in video decoding, allowing remote code execution through a malicious video file without user interaction. Attackers could compromise devices by simply calling targets.
The OpenSSL Heartbleed bug (CVE-2014-0160), while primarily an information disclosure issue, demonstrated heap-related vulnerabilities by allowing attackers to read arbitrary heap memory. Similar heap overflow issues in TLS implementations have enabled complete server compromise.
The sudo heap overflow (CVE-2021-3156) allowed local privilege escalation on Unix systems by overflowing a heap buffer through carefully crafted command-line arguments, giving unprivileged users root access on affected systems.
Mitigation
- Memory-safe languages: Use Rust, Go, or managed languages that eliminate manual memory management vulnerabilities
- Hardened heap allocators: Deploy jemalloc, PartitionAlloc, or Scudo with guard pages and randomization features
- Address Space Layout Randomization (ASLR): Randomize heap base addresses to make exploitation non-deterministic
- Bounds checking: Validate all input sizes before heap operations and use safe string functions (
strncpy,snprintf) - Heap integrity checks: Enable heap consistency verification in production environments
- Compiler mitigations: Use AddressSanitizer during development and fortify source options at compile time
- Size limits: Enforce maximum allocation sizes and reject excessive input
Recent CVEs (1940)
A vulnerability has been identified in Solid Edge SE2023 (All versions < V223.0 Update 10). Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
A vulnerability has been identified in Solid Edge SE2023 (All versions < V223.0 Update 10). Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
A vulnerability has been identified in Solid Edge SE2023 (All versions < V223.0 Update 10). Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
A vulnerability was found in Perl. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is low attack complexity.
A vulnerability was found in SQLite SQLite3 up to 3.43.0 and classified as critical.c of the component make alltest Handler. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available.
A vulnerability was found in MicroPython up to 1.21.0. Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available.
ClickHouse® is an open-source column-oriented database management system that allows generating analytical data reports in real-time. Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
A vulnerability was found in perl 5.30.0 through 5.38.0. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is low attack complexity.
A vulnerability was found in OpenImageIO, where a heap buffer overflow exists in the src/gif.imageio/gifinput.cpp file. 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.
When reading DesFire keys, the function that reads the card isn't properly checking the boundaries when copying internally the data received. Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Microsoft ODBC Driver Remote Code Execution Vulnerability. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity.
Internet Connection Sharing (ICS) Remote Code Execution Vulnerability. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity.
Windows Media Remote Code Execution Vulnerability. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity.
IBM Informix Dynamic Server 12.10 and 14.10 cdr is vulnerable to a heap buffer overflow, caused by improper bounds checking which could allow a local user to cause a segmentation fault. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
IBM Informix Dynamic Server 12.10 and 14.10 archecker is vulnerable to a heap buffer overflow, caused by improper bounds checking which could allow a local user to cause a segmentation fault. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
IBM Informix Dynamic Server 12.10 and 14.10 onsmsync is vulnerable to a heap buffer overflow, caused by improper bounds checking which could allow an attacker to execute arbitrary code. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
KEPServerEX is vulnerable to a buffer overflow which may allow an attacker to crash the product being accessed or leak information. Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.1), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
A maliciously crafted PRT file when parsed through Autodesk AutoCAD 2024 and 2023 can be used to cause a Heap-Based Buffer Overflow. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
A maliciously crafted MODEL file when parsed through Autodesk AutoCAD 2024 and 2023 can be used to cause a Heap-Based Buffer Overflow. Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Adobe Premiere Pro version 24.0 (and earlier) and 23.6 (and earlier) are affected by a Heap-based Buffer Overflow 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. No vendor patch available.
Adobe Audition version 24.0 (and earlier) and 23.6.1 (and earlier) are affected by a Heap-based Buffer Overflow vulnerability that could result in arbitrary code execution in the context of the. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Adobe Media Encoder version 24.0.2 (and earlier) and 23.6 (and earlier) are affected by a Heap-based Buffer Overflow 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. No vendor patch available.
Windows Distributed File System (DFS) Remote Code Execution Vulnerability. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.0), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable.
Microsoft Remote Registry Service Remote Code Execution Vulnerability. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity.
Windows Hyper-V Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is 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 HMAC Key Derivation Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.8), this vulnerability is low attack complexity.
Visual Studio Denial of Service Vulnerability. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is low attack complexity.
Windows Cloud Files Mini Filter Driver Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is low attack complexity.
Microsoft Protected Extensible Authentication Protocol (PEAP) Remote Code Execution Vulnerability. Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity.
A heap-based buffer overflow vulnerability exists in the HTTP Server form boundary functionality of Weston Embedded uC-HTTP v3.01.01. 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.
A heap-based buffer overflow vulnerability exists in the HTTP Server functionality of Weston Embedded uC-HTTP v3.01.01. 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.
A heap-based Buffer Overflow flaw was discovered in Samba. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
An out-of-bounds write flaw was found in grub2's NTFS filesystem driver. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
Heap-based Buffer Overflow in GitHub repository radareorg/radare2 prior to 5.9.0. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available.
A heap-based buffer overflow vulnerability exists in the vpnserver WpcParsePacket() functionality of SoftEther VPN 4.41-9782-beta, 5.01.9674 and 5.02. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.1), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required. Public exploit code available.
Microsoft ODBC Driver for SQL Server Remote Code Execution Vulnerability. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity.
Microsoft WDAC ODBC Driver 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.
Microsoft SQL OLE DB Remote Code Execution Vulnerability. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity.
A vulnerability was found in libX11 due to an integer overflow within the XCreateImage() function. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
A vulnerability was found in Delta Electronics WPLSoft up to 2.51 and classified as problematic. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.7), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
A heap-based buffer overflow vulnerability was found in coders/tiff.c in ImageMagick. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Local privilege escalation in the GNU C Library (glibc) dynamic loader ld.so allows unprivileged local users on affected Linux distributions to gain root by abusing a heap buffer overflow when ld.so processes the GLIBC_TUNABLES environment variable during execution of SUID binaries. The flaw is confirmed actively exploited (CISA KEV) with publicly available exploit code, and the EPSS score of 71.53% (99th percentile) reflects very high exploitation likelihood across Linux estates.
Heap-based Buffer Overflow in GitHub repository vim/vim prior to 9.0.1969. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available.
Due to failure in validating the length provided by an attacker-crafted PPD PostScript document, CUPS and libppd are susceptible to a heap-based buffer overflow and possibly code execution. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.0), this vulnerability is no authentication required. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
Dell PowerEdge BIOS and Dell Precision BIOS contain a buffer overflow vulnerability. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.7), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
A flaw was found in GLib. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Windows Miracast Wireless Display Remote Code Execution Vulnerability. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, 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.
Visual Studio Remote Code Execution Vulnerability. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity.
3D Builder Remote Code Execution Vulnerability. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity.
3D Builder Remote Code Execution Vulnerability. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity.
3D Builder Remote Code Execution Vulnerability. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity.
3D Viewer Remote Code Execution Vulnerability. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity.
3D Viewer Remote Code Execution Vulnerability. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity.
A vulnerability has been identified in JT2Go (All versions < V14.3.0.1), Teamcenter Visualization V13.3 (All versions < V13.3.0.12), Teamcenter Visualization V14.0 (All versions), Teamcenter. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
A vulnerability has been identified in JT2Go (All versions < V14.3.0.1), Teamcenter Visualization V13.3 (All versions < V13.3.0.12), Teamcenter Visualization V14.0 (All versions), Teamcenter. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Heap-based Buffer Overflow in GitHub repository vim/vim prior to 9.0.1873. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available.
Heap-based Buffer Overflow in GitHub repository vim/vim prior to 9.0.1331. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available.
Heap-based Buffer Overflow in GitHub repository vim/vim prior to 9.0.1848. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available.
Heap-based Buffer Overflow in GitHub repository gpac/gpac prior to 2.3-DEV. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available.
Heap-based Buffer Overflow in GitHub repository radareorg/radare2 prior to 5.9.0. Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available.
eprosima Fast DDS is a C++ implementation of the Data Distribution Service standard of the Object Management Group. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
eprosima Fast DDS is a C++ implementation of the Data Distribution Service standard of the Object Management Group. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Adobe Dimension version 3.4.9 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.
Due to a failure in validating the length of a provided MQTT_CMD_PUBLISH parsed message with a variable length header, Cesanta Mongoose, an embeddable web server, version 7.10 is susceptible to a. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available.
HEVC Video Extensions Remote Code Execution Vulnerability. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity.
Windows Kernel Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is low attack complexity.
Microsoft Excel Remote Code Execution Vulnerability. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity.
Microsoft Office Visio Remote Code Execution Vulnerability. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity.
Buffer overflow in Zoom Clients before 5.14.5 may allow an unauthenticated user to enable a denial of service via network access. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
A flaw was found in the QEMU virtual crypto device while handling data encryption/decryption requests in virtio_crypto_handle_sym_req. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.5), this vulnerability is low attack complexity.
Under some circumstances, this weakness allows a user who has access to run the “ps” utility on a machine, the ability to write almost unlimited amounts of unfiltered data into the process heap. Rated low severity (CVSS 3.3), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Ariel Harush and Roy Hodir from OTORIO have found a flaw in the AXIS A1001 when communicating over OSDP. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
All versions of GE Digital CIMPLICITY that are not adhering to SDG guidance and accepting documents from untrusted sources are vulnerable to memory corruption issues due to insufficient input. Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Experion server may experience a DoS due to a heap overflow which could occur when handling a specially crafted message. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Use-After-Free, Out-of-bounds Write and Heap-based Buffer Overflow vulnerabilities exist in the DWG and DXF file reading procedure in SOLIDWORKS Desktop from Release SOLIDWORKS 2021 through Release. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Paint 3D Remote Code Execution Vulnerability. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity.
Windows Kernel Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is low attack complexity.
Windows Active Directory Certificate Services (AD CS) Remote Code Execution Vulnerability. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.2), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity.
Win32k Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is low attack complexity.
Windows Kernel Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is low attack complexity.
Windows Kernel Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is 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 ActiveX Remote Code Execution Vulnerability. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.0), this vulnerability is no authentication required.
Microsoft Failover Cluster Information Disclosure Vulnerability. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.9), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity.
Paint 3D Remote Code Execution Vulnerability. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity.
Redis is an in-memory database that persists on disk. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
A vulnerability has been identified in Tecnomatix Plant Simulation V2201 (All versions < V2201.0008), Tecnomatix Plant Simulation V2302 (All versions < V2302.0002). Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.