CVE-2025-11412

What it actually does

Out-of-bounds read in bfd_elf_gc_record_vtentry within bfd/elflink.c triggered by crafted input to the linker component of GNU Binutils 2.45, resulting in limited availability impact.

Why it matters to the business

Local crashes during linking can interrupt software builds and development pipelines, with low overall operational disruption given the local-only access requirement and low exploit probability.

How an attack unfolds

An attacker with local access supplies a specially crafted ELF object file to the linker, causing the vulnerable function to perform an out-of-bounds read; the public exploit may be adapted to target build environments.

How to fix it

Apply the patch identified by commit 047435dd988a3975d40c6626a8f739a0b2e154bc or upgrade to a version containing the fix; rebuild affected packages that depend on Binutils.

How to confirm the fix worked

Confirm the patch commit is present in the source tree, recompile Binutils, and test linking operations with known triggering inputs to verify absence of the out-of-bounds condition.

Typical attack path

1. Obtain local access to a system with vulnerable Binutils
2. Craft malicious ELF input designed to reach bfd_elf_gc_record_vtentry
3. Invoke the linker on the input to trigger the out-of-bounds read
4. Observe crash or limited side effects

How to detect it

Review build logs and core dumps for crashes originating from the linker component; examine process execution involving ld or bfd library calls on untrusted inputs.

What your security team should do

• Prioritize patching Binutils in build environments and CI/CD pipelines
• Monitor for updated packages in distributions using Binutils as a dependency
• Restrict untrusted local users from executing the linker on arbitrary inputs until fixed