CVE-2025-5278: Coreutils: heap buffer under-read in gnu coreutils sort via key specification
CSIRTS triage
- What
- A heap buffer under-read vulnerability in the sort utility via key specification allows memory access violations.
- Who is affected
- Systems running GNU Coreutils with the sort command processing untrusted key specifications.
- Urgency
- Medium priority with a CVSS of 4.4; not currently exploited but impacts memory safety.
- Action
- Upgrade GNU Coreutils to a patched version addressing the sort utility vulnerability.
AI-assisted analysis generated from the source advisory — verify against the original.
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Details
Original advisory: https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/vulnerability/CVE-2025-5278
Exploitation outlook
EPSS (FIRST.org) estimates each CVE’s probability of exploitation in the next 30 days — here is the CSIRTS.com read on those numbers.
- Low exploitation riskCVE-2025-52780.25% 30-day exploitation probability — currently an unlikely target, but scores change as exploit code circulates. Riskier than 16% of all EPSS-scored CVEs.
Referenced CVEs
| CVE | CSIRTS overview | External |
|---|---|---|
| CVE-2025-5278 | coverage & exploitation status | NVD · CVE.org |
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