CVE-2025-36853
Heap-based Buffer Overflow — Binary analysis detectable
Executive Summary
CVE-2025-36853 is a critical severity vulnerability affecting binary-analysis, binary-analysis. It is classified as Heap-based Buffer Overflow. Ensure your systems and dependencies are patched immediately to mitigate exposure risks.
Precogs AI Insight
"This security defect is primarily driven by within Buffer Overflow —, allowing an architectural oversight in input validation. In practice, this allows unauthorized actors to intercept or modify sensitive data flows before they reach secure enclaves. The Precogs Binary SAST engine detects such memory corruption vulnerabilities to neutralize the threat at the source level."
What is this vulnerability?
CVE-2025-36853 is categorized as a critical Buffer Overflow flaw. Based on our vulnerability intelligence, this issue occurs when the application fails to securely handle untrusted data boundaries.
Heap-based Buffer Overflow — Binary analysis detectable. CVSS 9.8 — Clear heap allocation overflow pattern detectable via binary SAST.
This architectural defect enables adversaries to bypass intended security controls, directly manipulating the application's execution state or data layer. Immediate strategic intervention is required.
Risk Assessment
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| CVSS Base Score | 9.8 (CRITICAL) |
| Vector String | N/A |
| Published | March 21, 2026 |
| Last Modified | March 21, 2026 |
| Related CWEs | CWE-122 |
Impact on Systems
✅ Remote Code Execution: Attackers can overwrite the instruction pointer (EIP/RIP) to redirect execution to malicious shellcode.
✅ Memory Corruption: Overwriting adjacent memory regions can corrupt critical application state, leading to unpredictable privilege escalation.
✅ Denial of Service: Triggering segmentation faults and kernel panics results in immediate disruption of critical systems.
How to fix this issue?
Implement the following strategic mitigations immediately to eliminate the attack surface.
1. Memory-Safe Languages Where possible, migrate critical parsing logic to memory-safe languages like Rust or Go.
2. Safe Standard Libraries Replace unbounded C functions (strcpy, sprintf) with boundary-checking equivalents (strncpy, snprintf).
3. Compiler Defenses Ensure software is compiled with modern defensive flags: ASLR, DEP/NX, Stack Canaries (SSP), and Position Independent Executables (PIE).
Vulnerability Signature
// Vulnerable C Function
void parse_network_packet(char *untrusted_data) \{
char local_buffer[128];
// VULNERABLE: strcpy does not verify the length of the source data
strcpy(local_buffer, untrusted_data);
printf("Packet Processed.");
\}
// EXPLOIT PAYLOAD: 128 bytes of padding + [Overwrite EIP Address]
References and Sources
- NVD — CVE-2025-36853
- MITRE — CVE-2025-36853
- CWE-122 — MITRE CWE
- CWE-122 Details
- Binary Analysis Vulnerabilities
- Binary Analysis Vulnerabilities
Vulnerability Code Signature
Attack Data Flow
| Stage | Detail |
|---|---|
| Source | Network packet or file input |
| Vector | Data exceeds the allocated buffer bounds during a copy operation on the heap |
| Sink | strcpy(), memcpy(), or pointer arithmetic |
| Impact | Memory corruption, Remote Code Execution (RCE) |
Vulnerable Code Pattern
// ❌ VULNERABLE: Heap-based Buffer Overflow
void process_data(char *input) {
char *buffer = malloc(64);
// Taint sink: copies without bounds checking
strcpy(buffer, input);
}
Secure Code Pattern
// ✅ SECURE: Bounded copy
void process_data(char *input) {
char *buffer = malloc(64);
if (buffer != NULL) {
// Sanitized boundary check
strncpy(buffer, input, 63);
buffer[63] = '\0';
}
}
How Precogs Detects This
Precogs Binary SAST engine explicitly uncovers memory boundary violations and unsafe memory management functions in compiled binaries.\n