Capstone doesn't check vsnprintf return in SStream_concat, allows stack buffer underflow and overflow
capstone-engine · capstone
Official source article: GitHub GHSA-85F5-6XR3-Q76R ↗. Check the applicable product and release in the original source.
4.8MediumCVSS 3.1
Recommended action
Patch only the product branches with a verified fix
Medium technical severity with public exploit material referenced by a structured source; prioritise exposed affected systems while verifying vendor guidance. Verified remediation exists for at least one product or source, but 1 structured product or package state remain unresolved. Apply remediation only to the exact product branch confirmed by its source.
Published severityMedium→Operational priority:Medium, unchanged from published severity.unchanged
Evidence used
No CISA KEV confirmation is currently recorded.
A structured source references public exploit or proof-of-concept material.
Exploitation requires an existing local or physical foothold with privileges.
EPSS is 0.20% for the current model date.
Compensating controls
Validate the affected product branch and deploy the verified fixed release.
Restrict local access and enforce least privilege on affected hosts.
Increase monitoring for the attack path and post-exploitation behaviour described in the report.
Verification
Confirm that the asset runs capstone-engine capstone and falls inside the recorded affected range.
Verify the installed build against the product-specific fixed version after deployment.
Validate exposure, authentication requirements and compensating controls in the actual environment.
Reopen this reassessment when CVSS, KEV, EPSS, exploit evidence or remediation changes.
Cross-source reconciliation
Remediation availability differs by product scope
Verified remediation exists for at least one product or source, but 1 structured product or package state remain unresolved. Apply remediation only to the exact product branch confirmed by its source.
Debian Security Tracker: 1 affected package state with no published fix
Distribution package intelligence
Release-specific package status
Alpine, Debian, ubuntu findings are scoped to the named distribution, release and source package. An absent finding does not mean a package is unaffected.
6 package states
Package result overrides the generic status
BlackTree has verified remediation for at least one product or source, but the relevant distribution still reports no fixed package for 1 affected package state shown here. Treat those rows as affected with no fix until that distribution publishes a fixed version.
Repository candidate not checked
A published vendor fix does not prove that a matching update is enabled and installable on a particular asset. Confirm the local package candidate before scheduling remediation.
Distribution release
Source package
Vendor state
Fixed version
Evidence
Alpine v3.23v3.23 · community
capstone
Vendor fix publishedAlpine records a security fix at this version. An absent entry does not mean the package is unaffected.
Structured product status and remediation from the issuing vendor. Product-state explanations are always visible; large lists can be searched or downloaded.
1 current
CVE-2025-68114 · CSAF 2.0 · revision 3 · finalRed Hat Product Securitycapstone: Capstone: Memory corruption via unchecked vsnprintf return
276 fixed
The vendor explicitly identifies these products or versions as containing the fix.
capstone-0:5.0.1-7.el10_0.aarch64 as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream EUS (v. 10.0)
capstone-0:5.0.1-7.el10_0.ppc64le as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream EUS (v. 10.0)
capstone-0:5.0.1-7.el10_0.s390x as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream EUS (v. 10.0)
capstone-0:5.0.1-7.el10_0.src as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream EUS (v. 10.0)
capstone-0:5.0.1-7.el10_0.x86_64 as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream EUS (v. 10.0)
capstone-debuginfo-0:5.0.1-7.el10_0.aarch64 as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream EUS (v. 10.0)
capstone-debuginfo-0:5.0.1-7.el10_0.ppc64le as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream EUS (v. 10.0)
capstone-debuginfo-0:5.0.1-7.el10_0.s390x as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream EUS (v. 10.0)
capstone-debuginfo-0:5.0.1-7.el10_0.x86_64 as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream EUS (v. 10.0)
capstone-debugsource-0:5.0.1-7.el10_0.aarch64 as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream EUS (v. 10.0)
capstone-debugsource-0:5.0.1-7.el10_0.ppc64le as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream EUS (v. 10.0)
capstone-debugsource-0:5.0.1-7.el10_0.s390x as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream EUS (v. 10.0)
Summary
A flaw was found in Capstone, a disassembly framework. An unchecked return value from vsnprintf within the SStream_concat function allows a malicious input to manipulate the internal stream index. This can lead to a stack buffer underflow or overflow, potentially enabling a local attacker to achieve information disclosure, alter data, or cause a denial of service.
Remediation
For details on how to apply this update, which includes the changes described in this advisory, refer to: https://access.redhat.com/articles/11258
Optional official sources
National CERT insights ?CERT means Computer Emergency Response Team; CSIRT is the closely related term Computer Security Incident Response Team.
Choose official national sources for this report. Each advisory shows its original language. Your selection is remembered on this device and included in shared links.
Official European source
ENISA European Vulnerability Database
Official EUVD identifiers, advisory evidence and known-exploited context. Missing fields are not treated as evidence of low risk.
1 current
ENISA EUVD identifier
EUVD-2025-203995
No EUVD known-exploited evidence
ENISA has published the identifier mapping but no EUVD description has been stored yet.
EUVD state
Present in the current official mapping
Known exploitation
Not present in the current ENISA EUVD known-exploited dataset. This is not proof of no exploitation.
ENISA score
Not supplied in the stored EUVD record
Advisory evidence
No linked advisory details stored yet
Recommended actionPatch only the product branches with a verified fix
Medium technical severity with public exploit material referenced by a structured source; prioritise exposed affected systems while verifying vendor guidance. Verified remediation exists for at least one product or source, but 1 structured product or package state remain unresolved. Apply remediation only to the exact product branch confirmed by its source.
Fix availability varies by product
01
What, why and how
Capstone is a disassembly framework. In versions 6.0.0-Alpha5 and prior, an unchecked vsnprintf return in SStream_concat lets a malicious cs_opt_mem.vsnprintf drive SStream’s index negative or past the end, leading to a stack buffer underflow/overflow when the next write occurs. Commit 2c7797182a1618be12017d7d41e0b6581d5d529e fixes the issue.
What
Capstone is a disassembly framework. In versions 6.0.0-Alpha5 and prior, an unchecked vsnprintf return in SStream_concat lets a malicious cs_opt_mem.vsnprintf drive SStream’s index negative or past the end, leading to a stack buffer underflow/overflow when the next write occurs. Commit 2c7797182a1618be12017d7d41e0b6581d5d529e fixes the issue.
Why
The product writes to a buffer using an index or pointer that references a memory location prior to the beginning of the buffer.
How
An attacker operating through local access may attempt exploitation with low privileges. If successful, the issue may cause the confidentiality, integrity or availability impact described by the vendor.
What
Capstone is a disassembly framework. In versions 6.0.0-Alpha5 and prior, an unchecked vsnprintf return in SStream_concat lets a malicious cs_opt_mem.vsnprintf drive SStream’s index negative or past the end, leading to a stack buffer underflow/overflow when the next write occurs. Commit 2c7797182a1618be12017d7d41e0b6581d5d529e fixes the issue.
Why
The product writes to a buffer using an index or pointer that references a memory location prior to the beginning of the buffer.
How
An attacker operating through local access may attempt exploitation with low privileges. If successful, the issue may cause the confidentiality, integrity or availability impact described by the vendor.
02
Exploit reality and attack path
CVSS severity, EPSS forecast probability, public exploit material and CISA-confirmed exploitation are separate signals.
Observed exploitation ?Confirmed exploitation and public exploit material are separate signals. Attacks can occur without public proof-of-concept or exploit code.No confirmed evidence
No CISA KEV match was present at the last successful refresh. This means no confirmation from that source, not proof of no exploitation.
Public PoC / exploit material ?Confirmed exploitation and public exploit material are separate signals. Attacks can occur without public proof-of-concept or exploit code.Reference recorded
CISA Vulnrichment records proof-of-concept exploitation in its SSVC data. BlackTree has not independently executed or validated exploit material.
Likely attack path
local access → Buffer Underwrite ('Buffer Underflow') → cause the confidentiality, integrity or availability impact described by the vendor
Attack surface
Local
Privileges required
Low: a basic authenticated account is required
User interaction
Required interaction required
Attack complexity
Low: no specialised conditions are recorded
Security boundary
Unchanged: impact remains within the vulnerable component's security authority
Weakness ?CWE means Common Weakness Enumeration: a standard category for the underlying weakness.
CWE-124: Buffer Underwrite ('Buffer Underflow'). The product writes to a buffer using an index or pointer that references a memory location prior to the beginning of the buffer.
CVSS vector ?CVSS means Common Vulnerability Scoring System. The vector records the metric values used to calculate technical severity.
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:L
Common Vulnerability Scoring System 3.1: the compact vector below is decoded into plain language.
AVLocalAttack vector: The attacker needs local access to the vulnerable system.ACLowAttack complexity: No specialised conditions are required beyond attacker-controlled input.PRLowPrivileges required: The attacker needs basic user-level privileges.UIRequiredUser interaction: Another user must perform an action for exploitation to succeed.SUnchangedScope: The security impact remains within the vulnerable component's authority.CLowConfidentiality impact: A successful attack can cause a limited loss.ILowIntegrity impact: A successful attack can cause a limited loss.ALowAvailability impact: A successful attack can cause a limited loss.
Post-exploitation / living off the land
The issue can support a local privilege or sandbox boundary transition; normal system utilities may then be available in the gained context.
CWE-124Public exploit reference
A
Official authority intelligence
Only matched European and national findings are included. Language selectors and unavailable sources are omitted.
Official EUVD record ↗BSI · German · WID-SEC-2026-0769Red Hat Enterprise Linux (capstone) und OpenShift (rhcos): Mehrere Schwachstellen
Ein Angreifer kann mehrere Schwachstellen in Red Hat Enterprise Linux und Red Hat OpenShift ausnutzen, um beliebigen Programmcode auszuführen, um einen Denial of Service Angriff durchzuführen, um Dateien zu manipulieren, und um Informationen offenzulegen.
Official advisory ↗Cyber Security Agency of Singapore · English · CSA-SB-20251224Security Bulletin 24 Dec 2025
The Cyber Security Agency of Singapore included this CVE in its official Security Bulletin 24 Dec 2025, published on 24 December 2025. Open the linked bulletin for the product, severity and reference information published in that issue.
Official advisory ↗JVN iPedia · Japanese · JVNDB-2025-023716Capstone engineのCapstoneにおける複数の脆弱性
Operational remediation based on structured source evidence.
Status ?Patch availability is based on structured fixed-version fields and authoritative update references. If no fix is verified, check the vendor advisory before making a change.
Use the product-specific evidence above. Patch only products with a verified fixed release, and keep every affected or under-investigation state without a matching fix in the remediation queue.
Workaround
No verified workaround is recorded. Limit untrusted access and use least privilege until authoritative guidance is available.
04
Evidence and provenance
Published 17 Dec 2025 · Last source change 18 Dec 2025, 15:09 UTC · CWE-124 · Buffer Underwrite ('Buffer Underflow')
CVE recordCVE.org · 5.2
CVSS sourceCNA
EPSS source ?The date BlackTree first stored a score for this CVE from the daily FIRST EPSS feed.FIRST · tracked since 2026-08-14
European sourceENISA EUVD · EUVD-2025-203995
Product sourceCNA
Remediation sourceVendor CSAF · Red Hat Product Security
CWE sourceCNA
NVD statusNVD enriched
Core structured fields are present and their contributing authorities are shown above.
Affected versionsThe structured affected or fixed version information changed.
Before
<= 6.0.0-Alpha5 · Fixed: An authoritative update reference is available, but the fixed version is not recorded in the structured CVE fields. Check the linked vendor advisory for the applicable release.
After
<= 6.0.0-Alpha5 · Fixed: For details on how to apply this update, which includes the changes described in this advisory, refer to: https://access.redhat.com/articles/11258
Technical terms and abbreviations used in this report
CVE
Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures: the public identifier for one disclosed vulnerability.
CVSS
Common Vulnerability Scoring System: a technical severity framework; it is not patching priority by itself.
EPSS
Exploit Prediction Scoring System: FIRST's estimate of the probability that exploitation activity will be observed in the next 30 days; it is a forecast, not confirmation.
CWE
Common Weakness Enumeration: the standard category describing the underlying software or hardware weakness.
CNA
CVE Numbering Authority: an organisation authorised to assign and publish CVE records.
CISA ADP
Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Authorized Data Publisher: structured enrichment added to a CVE record.
NVD
National Vulnerability Database: NIST's enrichment service for CVE records.
CERT / CSIRT
A computer security incident response team that publishes warnings or coordinates incident response.
PoC
Proof of concept: public material that demonstrates or helps reproduce exploitation.
CSAF
Common Security Advisory Framework: a machine-readable format for security advisories.
LoTL
Living off the land: abuse of legitimate tools or system functions during an attack.