CVE-2025-5278

MEDIUMPre-NVD 4.44.4—
EchelonGraph scoreMEDIUM confidence

Score 4.4 from GitHub Security Advisory published 2025-05-27. A secondary CVSS source baseline 4.4; sources differ by 0.0.

Triggered by: GitHub Security Advisory CVSS
Sources: epss, ghsa, secondary
Trending — 4 sources updated this week
4.4EG
EchelonGraph verdictMonitorLow exploitation likelihood right now — keep watching.
  • Lower severity and no public exploit yet
CISA-KEV: Not listedEPSS PROB: 0.3%CVSS: 4.4Exploit: None knownExposed services: Not assessed

A fix is available — apply it.

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.

CVSS v3
4.4
EG Score
4.4MEDIUMmedium confidence
EG Risk
20
EG Risk 20/100CISA SSVC

EG Risk is EchelonGraph's 0–100 priority score: it fuses intrinsic severity with real-world exploitation and automatability so you can rank equal-severity CVEs and fix the most dangerous first. Higher = act sooner. Distinct from the 0–10 EG Score (severity).

How it’s computed
Severity44% × 45%
Exploitation0% × 40%
Automatability0% × 15%
CISA SSVC: Track at every mission impact level.
Action: A fix is available. Apply it within your standard update timelines.
EPSS PROB
0.3%
EPSS %ILE
19th
KEV
Not listed

CISA SSVCTrack at every mission impact level.

A fix is available. Apply it within your standard update timelines.

Exploitation none (CISA Vulnrichment) · Automatable no (CISA Vulnrichment) · Technical impact partial (CISA Vulnrichment). Mission impact is CISA's Mission & Well-being decision point, and only you can judge it: high means the affected system is essential to your organisation's mission, or its compromise could cause irreversible harm to people. CISA's decision table

Published

May 27, 2025

Last Modified

September 29, 2026

Advisory Details (9)

Auto-updated Jun 27, 2026
🔬 Proof of concept available. Patch available. Sources: redhat.
generic

NEWS - coreutils.git - GNU coreutils

https://cgit.git.savannah.gnu.org/cgit/coreutils.git/tree/NEWS?id=8c9602e3a145e9596dc1a63c6ed67865814b6633#n14
generic

coreutils.git - GNU coreutils

https://cgit.git.savannah.gnu.org/cgit/coreutils.git/commit/?id=8c9602e3a145e9596dc1a63c6ed67865814b6633
generic

oss-security - Re: CVE-2025-5278: Heap Buffer Overflow in GNU Coreutils sort

http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2025/05/29/2
generic

oss-security - Re: CVE-2025-5278: Heap Buffer Overflow in GNU Coreutils sort

http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2025/05/29/1
generic

oss-security - CVE-2025-5278: Heap Buffer Overflow in GNU Coreutils sort

http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2025/05/27/2
generic🟡 PoC Available

#78507 - [Security] Heap Buffer Overflow in GNU Coreutils sort (CWE-122) - GNU bug report logs

https://debbugs.gnu.org/cgi/bugreport.cgi?bug=78507
redhat Patch Available

2368764 – (CVE-2025-5278) CVE-2025-5278 coreutils: Heap Buffer Under-Read in GNU Coreutils sort via Key Specification

Affected: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9

https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2368764
redhat Patch Available

cve-details

https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2025-5278
redhat Patch Available

Affected: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9.

https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:28911

Vendor Advisories for CVE-2025-5278(13)

These vendors published their own advisory mentioning this CVE — often with vendor-specific remediation steps + affected product lists not in NVD.

Patch Availability(12)

Vendor / EcosystemFix (by version range) / PatchReleasedSource
ubuntugnu-coreutils (9.7-3ubuntu2.1) @ resolute2026-09-29ubuntu
redhatcoreutils-0:8.30-21.el8_102026-09-22redhat
redhatrhui5/rhua-tp-rhel9:17872412602026-08-24redhat
redhatrhosdt/opentelemetry-rhel9-operator:17857045472026-08-04redhat
redhatdiscovery/discovery-server-rhel9:17848216702026-07-27redhat
redhatrhui5/rhua-rhel9:17847950762026-07-23redhat
redhatcostmanagement/costmanagement-metrics-rhel9-operator:17835391562026-07-15redhat
redhatinsights-proxy/insights-proxy-container-rhel9:17828905032026-07-01redhat
redhatrhosdt/tempo-rhel9-operator:17825011952026-06-30redhat
redhatdiscovery/discovery-ui-rhel9:17827565412026-06-29redhat
redhatcoreutils-0:9.5-8.el10_22026-06-29redhat
redhatcoreutils-0:8.32-41.el9_82026-06-24redhat

Patches are aggregated from vendor advisories (Red Hat, Microsoft, Cisco, GitHub) and package ecosystems (OSV, GHSA). Multiple rows for the same upstream release have been deduplicated.

Affected Packages

(4 across 4 ecosystems)
Debian:11(1)
PackageVulnerable rangeFix by version rangeDependents
coreutils8.32-4 ... 9.7-3 (14 versions)
  • every version on: no fix on record
—
Debian:12(1)
PackageVulnerable rangeFix by version rangeDependents
coreutils9.1-1 ... 9.7-3 (12 versions)
  • every version on: no fix on record
—
Debian:13(1)
PackageVulnerable rangeFix by version rangeDependents
coreutils9.10-1, 9.7-3
  • every version on: no fix on record
—
Debian:14(1)
PackageVulnerable rangeFix by version rangeDependents
coreutils9.10-1, 9.7-3
  • every version on: no fix on record
—

Weakness Classification(1)

MITRE Common Weakness Enumeration — the root-cause categories this CVE belongs to.

Additional Vendor Advisories

(2)

Vendors that published advisories for this CVE beyond the curated set above. Broader coverage but minimal per-row detail — click through for the original advisory.

Data Freshness Timeline

(refreshed 13× in last 7d / 68× in last 30d)

Each row is a source pipeline that fetched or updated this CVE on that date, with what changed. For example, "NVD update" means NVD published or revised its analysis for this CVE; "MITRE cvelistV5" means we ingested or refreshed it from the CNA feed. Most recent first.

Showing the most recent 100 of 375 total refreshes for this CVE.

  1. 2026-10-04 23:21 UTCEPSS rescore
  2. 2026-10-03 14:25 UTCEPSS rescore
  3. 2026-10-01 19:49 UTCEPSS rescore
  4. 2026-09-30 15:02 UTCEPSS rescore
  5. 2026-09-29 15:20 UTCEPSS rescore
  6. 2026-09-29 01:21 UTCEG score recompute
  7. 2026-09-29 01:21 UTCVendor advisory
  8. 2026-09-29 01:21 UTCGHSA enrichment
  9. 2026-09-29 00:57 UTCEG score recompute
  10. 2026-09-29 00:57 UTCVendor advisory
  11. 2026-09-29 00:57 UTCGHSA enrichment
  12. 2026-09-28 13:50 UTCEPSS rescore
  13. 2026-09-28 13:50 UTCEPSS rescore
  14. 2026-09-26 15:58 UTCEPSS rescore
  15. 2026-09-26 15:58 UTCEPSS rescore
  16. 2026-09-24 14:02 UTCEPSS rescore
  17. 2026-09-23 13:47 UTCEPSS rescore
  18. 2026-09-22 16:27 UTCEG score recompute
  19. 2026-09-22 16:27 UTCVendor advisory
  20. 2026-09-22 16:27 UTCGHSA enrichment
  21. 2026-09-22 15:46 UTCEG score recompute
  22. 2026-09-22 15:46 UTCVendor advisory
  23. 2026-09-22 15:46 UTCGHSA enrichment
  24. 2026-09-20 20:15 UTCEPSS rescore
  25. 2026-09-19 15:42 UTCEPSS rescore
Show 75 more
  1. 2026-09-18 19:27 UTCEPSS rescore
  2. 2026-09-17 19:30 UTCEPSS rescore
  3. 2026-09-16 14:07 UTCEPSS rescore
  4. 2026-09-15 03:10 UTCEPSS rescore
  5. 2026-09-13 16:46 UTCEPSS rescore
  6. 2026-09-12 15:00 UTCEPSS rescore
  7. 2026-09-11 14:52 UTCEPSS rescore
  8. 2026-09-11 09:36 UTCEPSS rescore
  9. 2026-09-10 09:34 UTCEPSS rescore
  10. 2026-09-08 22:00 UTCEPSS rescore
  11. 2026-09-08 16:15 UTCVendor advisory
  12. 2026-09-08 16:15 UTCGHSA enrichment
  13. 2026-09-07 23:35 UTCEG score recompute
  14. 2026-09-07 23:35 UTCVendor advisory
  15. 2026-09-07 23:35 UTCGHSA enrichment
  16. 2026-09-07 22:32 UTCEG score recompute
  17. 2026-09-07 22:32 UTCVendor advisory
  18. 2026-09-07 22:32 UTCGHSA enrichment
  19. 2026-09-06 22:32 UTCEG score recompute
  20. 2026-09-06 22:32 UTCVendor advisory
  21. 2026-09-06 22:32 UTCGHSA enrichment
  22. 2026-09-06 21:55 UTCEG score recompute
  23. 2026-09-06 21:55 UTCVendor advisory
  24. 2026-09-06 21:55 UTCGHSA enrichment
  25. 2026-09-06 21:30 UTCEG score recompute
  26. 2026-09-06 21:30 UTCVendor advisory
  27. 2026-09-06 21:30 UTCGHSA enrichment
  28. 2026-09-06 20:24 UTCEG score recompute
  29. 2026-09-06 20:24 UTCVendor advisory
  30. 2026-09-06 20:24 UTCGHSA enrichment
  31. 2026-09-06 13:47 UTCEPSS rescore
  32. 2026-09-06 04:25 UTCEG score recompute
  33. 2026-09-06 04:25 UTCVendor advisory
  34. 2026-09-06 04:25 UTCGHSA enrichment
  35. 2026-09-06 03:25 UTCEG score recompute
  36. 2026-09-06 03:25 UTCVendor advisory
  37. 2026-09-06 03:25 UTCGHSA enrichment
  38. 2026-09-05 16:25 UTCEG score recompute
  39. 2026-09-05 16:25 UTCVendor advisory
  40. 2026-09-05 16:25 UTCGHSA enrichment
  41. 2026-09-05 16:17 UTCEG score recompute
  42. 2026-09-05 16:17 UTCVendor advisory
  43. 2026-09-05 16:16 UTCGHSA enrichment
  44. 2026-09-04 05:06 UTCEPSS rescore
  45. 2026-09-02 14:11 UTCEPSS rescore
  46. 2026-09-01 13:53 UTCEPSS rescore
  47. 2026-09-01 12:32 UTCEG score recompute
  48. 2026-09-01 12:32 UTCVendor advisory
  49. 2026-09-01 12:32 UTCGHSA enrichment
  50. 2026-09-01 11:57 UTCEG score recompute
  51. 2026-09-01 11:57 UTCVendor advisory
  52. 2026-09-01 11:57 UTCGHSA enrichment
  53. 2026-08-31 16:43 UTCEG score recompute
  54. 2026-08-31 16:43 UTCVendor advisory
  55. 2026-08-31 16:43 UTCGHSA enrichment
  56. 2026-08-31 15:09 UTCEG score recompute
  57. 2026-08-31 15:09 UTCVendor advisory
  58. 2026-08-31 15:09 UTCGHSA enrichment
  59. 2026-08-30 19:16 UTCEPSS rescore
  60. 2026-08-30 01:21 UTCEPSS rescore
  61. 2026-08-28 21:40 UTCEPSS rescore
  62. 2026-08-27 14:24 UTCEPSS rescore
  63. 2026-08-26 14:45 UTCEPSS rescore
  64. 2026-08-25 13:48 UTCEPSS rescore
  65. 2026-08-25 10:23 UTCEG score recompute
  66. 2026-08-25 10:23 UTCVendor advisory
  67. 2026-08-25 10:23 UTCGHSA enrichment
  68. 2026-08-25 09:57 UTCEG score recompute
  69. 2026-08-25 09:57 UTCVendor advisory
  70. 2026-08-25 09:57 UTCGHSA enrichment
  71. 2026-08-24 14:16 UTCEPSS rescore
  72. 2026-08-23 21:27 UTCEG score recompute
  73. 2026-08-23 21:27 UTCVendor advisory
  74. 2026-08-23 21:27 UTCGHSA enrichment
  75. 2026-08-23 20:26 UTCEG score recompute

Related CVEs(same product + same vendor + same CWE)

Frequently asked(5)

What is CVE-2025-5278?
CVE-2025-5278 is a medium vulnerability published on May 27, 2025. 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…
When was CVE-2025-5278 disclosed?
CVE-2025-5278 was first published on May 27, 2025, with the most recent update on September 29, 2026. EchelonGraph re-ingests CVE updates from NVD on a 2-hour cycle, so this page reflects the latest published state.
Is CVE-2025-5278 actively exploited?
CVE-2025-5278 is not currently on CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog. FIRST EPSS estimates a 0.3% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days (19th percentile of EPSS-scored CVEs).
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2025-5278?
CVE-2025-5278 has a CVSS base score of 4.4 (a secondary CVSS source that NVD displays; NVD's own analysis pending).
How do I remediate CVE-2025-5278?
A fix for CVE-2025-5278 is available: update to the fixed version the vendor names in its advisory. The vendor advisories EchelonGraph has for CVE-2025-5278 are linked in the Vendor Advisories panel on this page.

Dependency Blast Radius

See which npm, PyPI, Go, and Maven packages are affected by CVE-2025-5278

Explore →

Is Your Infrastructure Affected by CVE-2025-5278?

EchelonGraph automatically scans your cloud infrastructure and maps CVE exposure using blast radius analysis.

Book a Demo →Browse All CVEs