CVE-2023-25586 | Local variable `ch_type` in function `bfd_init_section_decompress_status` can be uninitialized

Exp

A flaw was found in Binutils. A logic fail in the bfd_init_section_decompress_status function may lead to the use of an uninitialized variable that can cause a crash and local denial of service.

Published: 2023-09-14 Last update: 2026-06-17 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2023-25586 is rated Exploit Available (50/100): CVSS Medium severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.35%). 2 public exploit reference(s) are indexed (Exploit-DB). Public exploits are available—assess exposure, apply mitigations, and prioritize patching.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

Public exploit references (Exploit-DB) for CVE-2023-25586

EDB-ID Source Kind Published Link
— nvd_ref exploit_tag Exploit-DB ↗
— nvd_ref exploit_tag Exploit-DB ↗

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2023-25586

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2026-06-15 0.02% 0.35% +0.32%
2 2025-11-21 0.07% 0.02% -0.05%
3 2025-11-18 — 0.07% —

Full EPSS history (6 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2023-25586

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
4.7 3.1 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:L)
They already need access on the box, or another person has to do something wrong; it’s not a remote drive-by.
Attack complexity (AC:H)
Even with access, the exploit needs extra luck, timing, or a fussy environment to actually work.
Privileges required (PR:N)
No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough.
User interaction (UI:R)
A real person has to do something—click, install, enable—otherwise it doesn’t land.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:N)
Doesn’t really leak secrets in a meaningful way.
Integrity (I:N)
Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
 1.0 3.6 [email protected]
5.5 3.1 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:L)
They already need access on the box, or another person has to do something wrong; it’s not a remote drive-by.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:N)
No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough.
User interaction (UI:R)
A real person has to do something—click, install, enable—otherwise it doesn’t land.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:N)
Doesn’t really leak secrets in a meaningful way.
Integrity (I:N)
Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
 1.8 3.6 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2023-25586

OS Trackers for CVE-2023-25586

vendor priority summary link
alpine medium CVE-2023-25586: 1 source package rows (binutils); 16 state rows across 6 repos (3.18-main, 3.19-main, 3.20-main, 3.21-main, 3.22-main, edge-main); fixed 0, open 16. https://security.alpinelinux.org/vuln/CVE-2023-25586
debian unimportant CVE-2023-25586 unimportant priority: Debian including 1 source packages (binutils), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 4, open 1. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2023-25586
redhat low — https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2023-25586
suse medium CVE-2023-25586 severity moderate: SUSE including 6 source package names (binutils, binutils-devel, binutils-devel-32bit, binutils-gold, libctf-nobfd0, libctf0), 122 product×package rows across 33 product lines (SUSE CaaS Platform 4.0, SUSE Enterprise Storage 7, … (33 product lines)): Known Not Affected 122. https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2023-25586/
ubuntu medium CVE-2023-25586 medium priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (binutils), 8 status rows across 8 suites (bionic, focal, jammy, kinetic, lunar, trusty, upstream, xenial): not-affected 7, needs-triage 1. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2023-25586

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2023-25586

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
gnu binutils 2.40 cpe:2.3:a:gnu:binutils:2.40:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2023-25586

cvelogic Threat Intelligence