CVE-2025-54481
A stack-based buffer overflow vulnerability exists in the MFER parsing functionality of The...
A stack-based buffer overflow vulnerability exists in the MFER parsing functionality of The Biosig Project libbiosig 3.9.0 and Master Branch (35a819fa). A specially crafted MFER file can lead to arbitrary code execution. An attacker can provide a malicious file to trigger this vulnerability.This vulnerability manifests on line 8744 of biosig.c on the current master branch (35a819fa), when the Tag is 3:
else if (tag==3) {
// character code
char v[17]; // [1]
if (len>16) fprintf(stderr,"Warning MFER tag2 incorrect length %i>16\n",len);
curPos += ifread(&v,1,len,hdr);
v[len] = 0;
In this case, the overflowed buffer is the newly-declared v [1] instead of buf. Since v is only 17 bytes large, much smaller values of len (even those encoded using a single octet) can trigger an overflow in this code path.
Attack profile
How easy it is to exploit
- Attack vector
- Network
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges needed
- None
- User interaction
- None
What an attacker can affect
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
Exploit likelihood
What each source reports
CVE List Score used
9.8
A stack-based buffer overflow vulnerability exists in the MFER parsing functionality of The Biosig Project libbiosig 3.9.0 and Master Branch (35a819fa). A specially crafted MFER file can lead to arbitrary code execution. An attacker can provide a malicious file to trigger this vulnerability.This vulnerability manifests on line 8744 of biosig.c on the current master branch (35a819fa), when the Tag is 3:
else if (tag==3) {
// character code
char v[17]; // [1]
if (len>16) fprintf(stderr,"Warning MFER tag2 incorrect length %i>16\n",len);
curPos += ifread(&v,1,len,hdr);
v[len] = 0;
In this case, the overflowed buffer is the newly-declared v [1] instead of buf. Since v is only 17 bytes large, much smaller values of len (even those encoded using a single octet) can trigger an overflow in this code path.
- Record
CVE-2025-54481- CVSS 3.1
- 9.8 Critical
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H - Weakness
- CWE-121
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
EUVDEUVD-2025-25682
9.8
A stack-based buffer overflow vulnerability exists in the MFER parsing functionality of The Biosig Project libbiosig 3.9.0 and Master Branch (35a819fa). A specially crafted MFER file can lead to arbitrary code execution. An attacker can provide a malicious file to trigger this vulnerability.This vulnerability manifests on line 8744 of biosig.c on the current master branch (35a819fa), when the Tag is 3:
else if (tag==3) {
// character code
char v[17]; // [1]
if (len>16) fprintf(stderr,"Warning MFER tag2 incorrect length %i>16\n",len);
curPos += ifread(&v,1,len,hdr);
v[len] = 0;
In this case, the overflowed buffer is the newly-declared v [1] instead of buf. Since v is only 17 bytes large, much smaller values of len (even those encoded using a single octet) can trigger an overflow in this code path.
- Record
EUVD-2025-25682- CVSS 3.1
- 9.8 Critical
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H - Updated
- 2026-11-02
GitHub AdvisoriesGHSA-cgqw-hrcf-pgqf
9.8
A stack-based buffer overflow vulnerability exists in the MFER parsing functionality of The...
A stack-based buffer overflow vulnerability exists in the MFER parsing functionality of The Biosig Project libbiosig 3.9.0 and Master Branch (35a819fa). A specially crafted MFER file can lead to arbitrary code execution. An attacker can provide a malicious file to trigger this vulnerability.This vulnerability manifests on line 8744 of biosig.c on the current master branch (35a819fa), when the Tag is 3:
else if (tag==3) {
// character code
char v[17]; // [1]
if (len>16) fprintf(stderr,"Warning MFER tag2 incorrect length %i>16\n",len);
curPos += ifread(&v,1,len,hdr);
v[len] = 0;
In this case, the overflowed buffer is the newly-declared v [1] instead of buf. Since v is only 17 bytes large, much smaller values of len (even those encoded using a single octet) can trigger an overflow in this code path.
- Record
GHSA-cgqw-hrcf-pgqf- CVSS 3.1
- 9.8 Critical
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H - Weakness
- CWE-121
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
NVD
9.8
A stack-based buffer overflow vulnerability exists in the MFER parsing functionality of The Biosig Project libbiosig 3.9.0 and Master Branch (35a819fa). A specially crafted MFER file can lead to arbitrary code execution. An attacker can provide a malicious file to trigger this vulnerability.This vulnerability manifests on line 8744 of biosig.c on the current master branch (35a819fa), when the Tag is 3:
else if (tag==3) {
// character code
char v[17]; // [1]
if (len>16) fprintf(stderr,"Warning MFER tag2 incorrect length %i>16\n",len);
curPos += ifread(&v,1,len,hdr);
v[len] = 0;
In this case, the overflowed buffer is the newly-declared v [1] instead of buf. Since v is only 17 bytes large, much smaller values of len (even those encoded using a single octet) can trigger an overflow in this code path.
- Record
CVE-2025-54481- CVSS 3.1
- 9.8 Critical
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H - Weakness
- CWE-121
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSV
9.8
A stack-based buffer overflow vulnerability exists in the MFER parsing functionality of The Biosig Project libbiosig 3.9.0 and Master Branch (35a819fa). A specially crafted MFER file can lead to arbitrary code execution. An attacker can provide a malicious file to trigger this vulnerability.This vulnerability manifests on line 8744 of biosig.c on the current master branch (35a819fa), when the Tag is 3:
else if (tag==3) {
// character code
char v[17]; // [1]
if (len>16) fprintf(stderr,"Warning MFER tag2 incorrect length %i>16\n",len);
curPos += ifread(&v,1,len,hdr);
v[len] = 0;
In this case, the overflowed buffer is the newly-declared v [1] instead of buf. Since v is only 17 bytes large, much smaller values of len (even those encoded using a single octet) can trigger an overflow in this code path.
- Record
CVE-2025-54481- CVSS 3.1
- 9.8 Critical
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H - Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVDEBIAN-CVE-2025-54481
9.8
A stack-based buffer overflow vulnerability exists in the MFER parsing functionality of The Biosig Project libbiosig 3.9.0 and Master Branch (35a819fa). A specially crafted MFER file can lead to arbitrary code execution. An attacker can provide a malicious file to trigger this vulnerability.This vulnerability manifests on line 8744 of biosig.c on the current master branch (35a819fa), when the Tag is 3:
else if (tag==3) {
// character code
char v[17]; // [1]
if (len>16) fprintf(stderr,"Warning MFER tag2 incorrect length %i>16\n",len);
curPos += ifread(&v,1,len,hdr);
v[len] = 0;
In this case, the overflowed buffer is the newly-declared v [1] instead of buf. Since v is only 17 bytes large, much smaller values of len (even those encoded using a single octet) can trigger an overflow in this code path.
- Record
DEBIAN-CVE-2025-54481- CVSS 3.1
- 9.8 Critical
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H - Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVUBUNTU-CVE-2025-54481
9.8
A stack-based buffer overflow vulnerability exists in the MFER parsing functionality of The Biosig Project libbiosig 3.9.0 and Master Branch (35a819fa). A specially crafted MFER file can lead to arbitrary code execution. An attacker can provide a malicious file to trigger this vulnerability.This vulnerability manifests on line 8744 of biosig.c on the current master branch (35a819fa), when the Tag is 3: else if (tag==3) { // character code char v[17]; // [1] if (len>16) fprintf(stderr,"Warning MFER tag2 incorrect length %i>16\n",len); curPos += ifread(&v,1,len,hdr); v[len] = 0; In this case, the overflowed buffer is the newly-declared v [1] instead of buf. Since v is only 17 bytes large, much smaller values of len (even those encoded using a single octet) can trigger an overflow in this code path.
- Record
UBUNTU-CVE-2025-54481- CVSS 3.1
- 9.8 Critical
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H - Updated
- 2026-11-02
Affected products
Affected packages
| Package | Affected | Fixed |
|---|---|---|
biosigDebian:12 |
All versions, plus listed versions 2.5.0-12.5.2-12.5.2-22.6.0-12.6.1-13.9.0-13.9.5-1 |
None known |
biosigDebian:13 |
All versions, plus listed versions 3.9.0-13.9.5-1 |
None known |
biosigDebian:14 |
before 3.9.5-1, plus listed versions 3.9.0-1 |
3.9.5-1 |
biosigUbuntu:Pro:22.04:LTS |
All versions, plus listed versions 2.1.2-42.1.2-4build12.1.2-4build22.3.3-12.3.3-1build12.3.3-1build22.3.3-1ubuntu0.1~esm1 |
None known |
biosigUbuntu:Pro:24.04:LTS |
All versions, plus listed versions 2.5.0-1build22.5.2-12.5.2-1build12.5.2-22.6.0-12.6.0-1build12.6.0-1ubuntu12.6.0-1ubuntu1+esm1 |
None known |
biosigUbuntu:25.10 |
All versions, plus listed versions 2.6.1-1build33.9.0-1 |
None known |
biosigUbuntu:26.10 |
All versions, plus listed versions 3.9.0-1build33.9.5-13.9.5-1build1 |
None known |
biosigUbuntu:Pro:26.04:LTS |
All versions, plus listed versions 3.9.0-13.9.0-1build13.9.0-1build23.9.0-1build33.9.0-1ubuntu0.1~esm1 |
None known |
History
| Recorded | Changed | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| first indexed | CVE List, EUVD, GitHub Advisories, NVD, OSV |
Dates are when Every CVE recorded each change. Upstream dates may differ.
In short
CVE-2025-54481 is a critical vulnerability (CVSS 9.8) in Libbiosig Project Libbiosig, published August 25, 2025. No source lists public exploit code. EPSS puts the chance of exploitation in the next 30 days at 0.71%, the 53rd percentile. Fixed in biosig 3.9.5-1.
References
talosintelligence.com/vulnerability_reports/TALOS-2025-2234
nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-54481
github.com/advisories/GHSA-cgqw-hrcf-pgqf
security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2025-54481
ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2025-54481
cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2025-54481
sourceforge.net/p/biosig/mailman/message/59224259