CVE-2025-5915: libarchive Heap-based Buffer Overflow

Vulnerability summary

CVE-2025-5915 is a medium (CVSS 6.6) Heap-based Buffer Overflow vulnerability in libarchive. EPSS estimates a 0.20% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 8.8% of scored vulnerabilities.

Timeline

1. 09-06-2025
   PublishedVulnerability first disclosed.
2. 01-09-2026
   Last modifiedVulnerability information updated.

Description

A vulnerability has been identified in the libarchive library. This flaw can lead to a heap buffer over-read due to the size of a filter block potentially exceeding the Lempel-Ziv-Storer-Schieber (LZSS) window. This means the library may attempt to read beyond the allocated memory buffer, which can result in unpredictable program behavior, crashes (denial of service), or the disclosure of sensitive information from adjacent memory regions.

• CWE-122Heap-based Buffer OverflowA heap overflow condition is a buffer overflow, where the buffer that can be overwritten is allocated in the heap portion of memory, generally meaning that the buffer was allocated using a routine such as malloc().