CVE-2025-15281 | wordexp with WRDE_REUSE and WRDE_APPEND may return uninitialized memory

Calling wordexp with WRDE_REUSE in conjunction with WRDE_APPEND in the GNU C Library version 2.0 to version 2.42 may cause the interface to return uninitialized memory in the we_wordv member, which on subsequent calls to wordfree may abort the process.

Published: 2026-01-20 Last update: 2026-02-05 Assigner: 3ff69d7a-14f2-4f67-a097-88dee7810d18 Source: 3ff69d7a-14f2-4f67-a097-88dee7810d18
NVD Status：Analyzed，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2025-15281 is rated Low Risk (35.8/100): CVSS High severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.05%). Monitor for updates and reassess as exploit intelligence or EPSS changes.

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

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2025-15281

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 2026-02-21 0.05% 0.05% +0.00%
2 2026-02-06 0.05% 0.05% -0.00%
3 2026-01-26 — 0.05% —

Full EPSS history (4 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2025-15281

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
7.5 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
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:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
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.
 3.9 3.6 134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2025-15281

OS Trackers for CVE-2025-15281

vendor priority summary link
debian not yet assigned CVE-2025-15281 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 1 source packages (glibc), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 5. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2025-15281
redhat low — https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2025-15281
suse medium CVE-2025-15281 severity moderate: SUSE including 762 source package names (1.1.1-1.24:glibc-2.38-150600.14.40.1, 1.1.1-1.25:glibc-2.38-150600.14.40.1, …), 1862 product×package rows across 260 product lines (Container private-registry/harbor-core, Container private-registry/harbor-exporter, … (260 product lines)): Fixed 1571, Known Affected 231, Known Not Affected 47, First Fixed 13. https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2025-15281/
ubuntu medium CVE-2025-15281 medium priority: Ubuntu including 2 source packages (eglibc, glibc), 12 status rows across 8 suites (bionic, focal, jammy, noble, questing, trusty, upstream, xenial): released 7, DNE 3, needed 1, needs-triage 1. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2025-15281

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2025-15281

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
gnu glibc >= 2.0, < 2.43 cpe:2.3:a:gnu:glibc:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2025-15281

cvelogic Threat Intelligence