CVE-2019-25050 – This CVE describes a stack-based buffer overflo... (How to Fix)

Q: What is the severity of CVE-2019-25050?

CVE-2019-25050 has a CVSS score of 7.8 (HIGH). This CVE describes a stack-based buffer overflow vulnerability in netCDF component of GDAL software. Attackers can exploit this to execute arbitrary code or cause denial of service by providing specially crafted netCDF files. Organizations using GDAL for geospatial data processing are affected.

📋 TL;DR

This CVE describes a stack-based buffer overflow vulnerability in netCDF component of GDAL software. Attackers can exploit this to execute arbitrary code or cause denial of service by providing specially crafted netCDF files. Organizations using GDAL for geospatial data processing are affected.

💻 Affected Systems

Products:

GDAL (Geospatial Data Abstraction Library)

Versions: GDAL 2.4.2 through 3.0.4

Operating Systems: All platforms where GDAL is installed

Default Config Vulnerable: ⚠️ Yes

Notes: Vulnerability triggers when processing netCDF files with specially crafted attributes.

📦 What is this software?

Gdal by Osgeo

View all CVEs affecting Gdal →

⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact

🔴

Worst Case

Remote code execution leading to complete system compromise, data theft, or ransomware deployment.

🟠

Likely Case

Application crash causing denial of service for geospatial processing services.

🟢

If Mitigated

Limited impact with proper input validation and sandboxing in place.

🌐 Internet-Facing: MEDIUM - Requires processing of malicious netCDF files, which could be uploaded via web interfaces.

🏢 Internal Only: MEDIUM - Internal users could exploit via malicious files in shared storage or processing pipelines.

🎯 Exploit Status

Public PoC: ⚠️ Yes

Weaponized: LIKELY

Unauthenticated Exploit: ⚠️ Yes

Complexity: LOW

Proof-of-concept available in oss-fuzz reports. Exploitation requires victim to process malicious netCDF file.

🛠️ Fix & Mitigation

✅ Official Fix

Patch Version: GDAL 3.0.5 and later

Vendor Advisory: https://github.com/OSGeo/gdal/security/advisories

Restart Required: Yes

Instructions:

1. Update GDAL to version 3.0.5 or later. 2. For Linux: Use package manager (apt-get upgrade gdal, yum update gdal). 3. For Windows: Download updated binaries from gdal.org. 4. Restart applications using GDAL.

🔧 Temporary Workarounds

Disable netCDF support

linux

Temporarily disable netCDF file processing if not required

Recompile GDAL without netCDF support: ./configure --without-netcdf

Input validation

all

Implement strict validation of netCDF files before processing

🧯 If You Can't Patch

Implement strict file upload controls and validation for netCDF files
Run GDAL in sandboxed/containerized environment with limited privileges

🔍 How to Verify

Check if Vulnerable:

Check GDAL version: gdalinfo --version. If version is between 2.4.2 and 3.0.4 inclusive, system is vulnerable.

Check Version:

gdalinfo --version

Verify Fix Applied:

After update, verify version is 3.0.5 or later: gdalinfo --version

📡 Detection & Monitoring

Log Indicators:

GDAL segmentation faults
Application crashes when processing netCDF files
Memory access violation errors

Network Indicators:

Unusual netCDF file uploads to geospatial services
Large netCDF files with abnormal attribute structures

SIEM Query:

source="application.log" AND ("segmentation fault" OR "buffer overflow") AND ("gdal" OR "netcdf")

📊 Metadata

CVE ID: CVE-2019-25050

CVSS v3 Score: 7.8 (HIGH)

CVSS Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

CWE: CWE-787

Published: July 20, 2021

Last Updated: November 21, 2024

🔗 References

https://bugs.chromium.org/p/oss-fuzz/issues/detail?id=15143 Patch,Third Party Advisory
https://bugs.chromium.org/p/oss-fuzz/issues/detail?id=15156 Patch,Third Party Advisory
https://github.com/OSGeo/gdal/commit/27b9bf644bcf1208f7d6594bdd104cc8a8bb0646 Patch,Third Party Advisory
https://github.com/OSGeo/gdal/commit/767e3a56144f676ca738ef8f700e0e56035bd05a Patch,Third Party Advisory
https://github.com/google/oss-fuzz-vulns/blob/main/vulns/gdal/OSV-2020-392.yaml Third Party Advisory
https://github.com/google/oss-fuzz-vulns/blob/main/vulns/gdal/OSV-2020-420.yaml Third Party Advisory
https://bugs.chromium.org/p/oss-fuzz/issues/detail?id=15143 Patch,Third Party Advisory
https://bugs.chromium.org/p/oss-fuzz/issues/detail?id=15156 Patch,Third Party Advisory
https://github.com/OSGeo/gdal/commit/27b9bf644bcf1208f7d6594bdd104cc8a8bb0646 Patch,Third Party Advisory
https://github.com/OSGeo/gdal/commit/767e3a56144f676ca738ef8f700e0e56035bd05a Patch,Third Party Advisory
https://github.com/google/oss-fuzz-vulns/blob/main/vulns/gdal/OSV-2020-392.yaml Third Party Advisory
https://github.com/google/oss-fuzz-vulns/blob/main/vulns/gdal/OSV-2020-420.yaml Third Party Advisory

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🔗 Related Vulnerabilities

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