CVE-2025-61662 | Grub2: missing unregister call for gettext command may lead to use-after-free

A Use-After-Free vulnerability has been discovered in GRUB's gettext module. This flaw stems from a programming error where the gettext command remains registered in memory after its module is unloaded. An attacker can exploit this condition by invoking the orphaned command, causing the application to access a memory location that is no longer valid. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability to cause grub to crash, leading to a Denial of Service. Possible data integrity or confidentiality compromise is not discarded.

Published: 2025-11-18 Last update: 2026-05-20 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]

Conclusion & alert: CVE-2025-61662 is rated Low Risk (31.4/100): CVSS High severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.01%). Mandatory action: 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-2025-61662

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 2025-11-19 0.01%

Full EPSS history (1 record total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2025-61662

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
7.8 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/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:L)
A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
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:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
1.8 5.9 [email protected]
7.8 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/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:L)
A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
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:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
1.8 5.9 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2025-61662

GitHub Security Advisory for CVE-2025-61662

GHSA-g7mr-vm94-3rv7 · Severity: medium — A Use-After-Free vulnerability has been discovered in GRUB's gettext module. This flaw stems from...

OS Trackers for CVE-2025-61662

vendor priority summary link
debian not yet assigned CVE-2025-61662 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 1 source packages (grub2), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): open 3, resolved 2. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2025-61662
redhat medium https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2025-61662
suse medium https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2025-61662/
ubuntu medium CVE-2025-61662 medium priority: Ubuntu including 3 source packages (grub2, grub2-signed, grub2-unsigned), 26 status rows across 9 suites (bionic, focal, jammy, noble, plucky, questing, trusty, upstream, xenial): needs-triage 15, not-affected 7, ignored 4. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2025-61662

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2025-61662

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
gnu grub2 <= 2.14 cpe:2.3:a:gnu:grub2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2025-61662

URL Tags
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:10097
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:14773
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:15087
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:17596
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:4648
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:4649
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:4652
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:4653
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:4654
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:4760
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:4822
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:4823
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:4830
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:4900
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:4998
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:5074
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:5127
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:5233
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:6492
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:7239
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:7243
https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2025-61662 Third Party Advisory
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2414683 Issue Tracking Third Party Advisory
https://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/grub-devel/2025-11/msg00155.html
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2025/11/18/5 Mailing List Patch
cvelogic Threat Intelligence