Executive Summary

CVE-2025-5278 exposes a heap buffer under-read in GNU Coreutils' sort utility via the begfield() function when processing crafted key format inputs. An attacker can trigger a crash or leak sensitive data by executing a malicious sort command. The vulnerability is not yet listed in CISA KEV, but mitigations include updating to patched Coreutils or sanitizing input.

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Authoritative CVE Metadata - CVSS Base Score: 4.4 (MEDIUM) - Published: 2025-05-27T21:15:23.197 - Last Modified: 2026-09-29T01:16:43.143

Original Description: A flaw was found in GNU Coreutils. The sort utility's begfield() function is vulnerable to a heap buffer under-read. The program may access memory outside the allocated buffer if a user runs a crafted command using the traditional key format. A malicious input could lead to a crash or leak sensitive data.

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