CVE-2017-15020
dwarf1.c in the Binary File Descriptor (BFD) library (aka libbfd), as distributed in GNU Binutils 2.29, mishandles pointers, which allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (application crash) or possibly have unspecified other impact via a…
Does this matter?
High impact if exploited, but EPSS currently rates exploitation as unlikely (2.17%). Schedule it in the normal patch cycle and watch for a rise in EPSS or a public exploit.
Description
dwarf1.c in the Binary File Descriptor (BFD) library (aka libbfd), as distributed in GNU Binutils 2.29, mishandles pointers, which allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (application crash) or possibly have unspecified other impact via a crafted ELF file, related to parse_die and parse_line_table, as demonstrated by a parse_die heap-based buffer over-read.
- CVSS 3.0
- 7.8 HIGHCVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
- EPSS
- 2.17% probability · 82th percentile
- Public exploits
- None in Exploit-DB
- CISA KEV
- Not listed
- Weakness
- CWE-125
- Affected
- gnu/binutils
- Source
- cve@mitre.org
EPSS moved from 3.6% on 21 September 2026 to 2.2% on 27 October 2026.
References
- https://blogs.gentoo.org/ago/2017/10/03/binutils-heap-based-buffer-overflow-in-parse_die-dwarf1-c/Patch, Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry
- https://sourceware.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=22202Issue Tracking, Patch, Third Party Advisory
- https://sourceware.org/git/gitweb.cgi?p=binutils-gdb.git%3Bh=1da5c9a485f3dcac4c45e96ef4b7dae5948314b5
- https://blogs.gentoo.org/ago/2017/10/03/binutils-heap-based-buffer-overflow-in-parse_die-dwarf1-c/Patch, Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry
- https://sourceware.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=22202Issue Tracking, Patch, Third Party Advisory
- https://sourceware.org/git/gitweb.cgi?p=binutils-gdb.git%3Bh=1da5c9a485f3dcac4c45e96ef4b7dae5948314b5
Source: NVD record, EPSS from FIRST.org, KEV from CISA, exploits from Exploit-DB. Refreshed daily. Download this record as JSON.