# CVE-2025-5278: Coreutils: heap buffer under-read in gnu coreutils sort via key specification

Status: published. Published: 2025-05-27. Updated: 2026-11-06.

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.

## Remediation

- workaround: Mitigation for this issue is either not available or the currently available options don't meet the Red Hat Product Security criteria comprising ease of use and deployment, applicability to widespread installation base or stability. (source: CNA: redhat)

## Affected products and versions

-  /  (coreutils): ≥ 7.2; < 9.8 (affected, semver). Source: CNA: redhat
- Red Hat / Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 (coreutils): ≥ 0:9.5-8.el10_2; < * (unaffected, rpm). Source: CNA: redhat
- Red Hat / Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 (coreutils): ≥ 0:8.30-21.el8_10; < * (unaffected, rpm). Source: CNA: redhat
- Red Hat / Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 (coreutils): ≥ 0:8.32-41.el9_8; < * (unaffected, rpm). Source: CNA: redhat
- Red Hat / Cert Manager support for Red Hat OpenShift release 1.17 (cert-manager/jetstack-cert-manager-acmesolver-rhel9): ≥ 1791371080; < * (unaffected, rpm). Source: CNA: redhat
- Red Hat / Cert Manager support for Red Hat OpenShift release 1.17 (cert-manager/jetstack-cert-manager-rhel9): ≥ 1791371069; < * (unaffected, rpm). Source: CNA: redhat
- Red Hat / Cert Manager support for Red Hat OpenShift release 1.17 (cert-manager/cert-manager-operator-rhel9): ≥ 1791788287; < * (unaffected, rpm). Source: CNA: redhat
- Red Hat / Cert Manager support for Red Hat OpenShift release 1.17 (cert-manager/cert-manager-operator-bundle): ≥ 1791970484; < * (unaffected, rpm). Source: CNA: redhat
- Red Hat / Cert Manager support for Red Hat OpenShift release 1.18 (cert-manager/jetstack-cert-manager-acmesolver-rhel9): ≥ 1791459707; < * (unaffected, rpm). Source: CNA: redhat
- Red Hat / Cert Manager support for Red Hat OpenShift release 1.18 (cert-manager/jetstack-cert-manager-rhel9): ≥ 1791459711; < * (unaffected, rpm). Source: CNA: redhat
- Red Hat / Cert Manager support for Red Hat OpenShift release 1.18 (cert-manager/cert-manager-istio-csr-rhel9): ≥ 1791459759; < * (unaffected, rpm). Source: CNA: redhat
- Red Hat / Cert Manager support for Red Hat OpenShift release 1.18 (cert-manager/cert-manager-operator-rhel9): ≥ 1789029076; < * (unaffected, rpm). Source: CNA: redhat
- Red Hat / Cert Manager support for Red Hat OpenShift release 1.18 (cert-manager/cert-manager-operator-bundle): ≥ 1791966259; < * (unaffected, rpm). Source: CNA: redhat
- Red Hat / Cert Manager support for Red Hat OpenShift release 1.20 (cert-manager/cert-manager-trust-manager-rhel9): ≥ 1790598593; < * (unaffected, rpm). Source: CNA: redhat
- Red Hat / Cost Management 4 (costmanagement/costmanagement-metrics-rhel9-operator): ≥ 1783539156; < * (unaffected, rpm). Source: CNA: redhat
- Red Hat / Red Hat Discovery 2 (discovery/discovery-ui-rhel9): ≥ 1782756541; < * (unaffected, rpm). Source: CNA: redhat
- Red Hat / Red Hat Discovery 2 (discovery/discovery-server-rhel9): ≥ 1784821670; < * (unaffected, rpm). Source: CNA: redhat
- Red Hat / Red Hat Insights proxy 1.5 (insights-proxy/insights-proxy-container-rhel9): ≥ 1782890503; < * (unaffected, rpm). Source: CNA: redhat
- Red Hat / Red Hat OpenShift distributed tracing 3.10.1 (rhosdt/tempo-gateway-opa-rhel9): ≥ 1782501180; < * (unaffected, rpm). Source: CNA: redhat
- Red Hat / Red Hat OpenShift distributed tracing 3.10.1 (rhosdt/tempo-gateway-rhel9): ≥ 1782501200; < * (unaffected, rpm). Source: CNA: redhat
- Red Hat / Red Hat OpenShift distributed tracing 3.10.1 (rhosdt/tempo-jaeger-query-rhel9): ≥ 1782498923; < * (unaffected, rpm). Source: CNA: redhat
- Red Hat / Red Hat OpenShift distributed tracing 3.10.1 (rhosdt/tempo-operator-bundle): ≥ 1782510941; < * (unaffected, rpm). Source: CNA: redhat
- Red Hat / Red Hat OpenShift distributed tracing 3.10.1 (rhosdt/tempo-query-rhel9): ≥ 1782501220; < * (unaffected, rpm). Source: CNA: redhat
- Red Hat / Red Hat OpenShift distributed tracing 3.10.1 (rhosdt/tempo-rhel9): ≥ 1782501196; < * (unaffected, rpm). Source: CNA: redhat
- Red Hat / Red Hat OpenShift distributed tracing 3.10.1 (rhosdt/tempo-rhel9-operator): ≥ 1782501195; < * (unaffected, rpm). Source: CNA: redhat
- Red Hat / Red Hat OpenShift distributed tracing 3.10.1 (rhosdt/opentelemetry-collector-rhel9): ≥ 1785704636; < * (unaffected, rpm). Source: CNA: redhat
- Red Hat / Red Hat OpenShift distributed tracing 3.10.1 (rhosdt/opentelemetry-rhel9-operator): ≥ 1785704547; < * (unaffected, rpm). Source: CNA: redhat
- Red Hat / Red Hat Update Infrastructure 5 (rhui5/cds-kubernetes-rhel9): ≥ 1784794818; < * (unaffected, rpm). Source: CNA: redhat
- Red Hat / Red Hat Update Infrastructure 5 (rhui5/cds-rhel9): ≥ 1784794778; < * (unaffected, rpm). Source: CNA: redhat
- Red Hat / Red Hat Update Infrastructure 5 (rhui5/haproxy-rhel9): ≥ 1784795112; < * (unaffected, rpm). Source: CNA: redhat
- Red Hat / Red Hat Update Infrastructure 5 (rhui5/installer-rhel9): ≥ 1784794289; < * (unaffected, rpm). Source: CNA: redhat
- Red Hat / Red Hat Update Infrastructure 5 (rhui5/rhua-rhel9): ≥ 1784795076; < * (unaffected, rpm). Source: CNA: redhat
- Red Hat / Red Hat Update Infrastructure 5 (rhui5/cds-kubernetes-tp-rhel9): ≥ 1787241211; < * (unaffected, rpm). Source: CNA: redhat
- Red Hat / Red Hat Update Infrastructure 5 (rhui5/installer-tp-rhel9): ≥ 1787135742; < * (unaffected, rpm). Source: CNA: redhat
- Red Hat / Red Hat Update Infrastructure 5 (rhui5/rhua-tp-rhel9): ≥ 1787241260; < * (unaffected, rpm). Source: CNA: redhat
- Red Hat / Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 (coreutils): Version range not reported. Source: CNA: redhat
- Red Hat / Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 (coreutils): Version range not reported. Source: CNA: redhat
- Red Hat / Red Hat OpenShift AI (RHOAI) (rhoai/odh-llama-stack-k8s-operator-rhel9): Version range not reported. Source: CNA: redhat
- Red Hat / Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4 (openshift/ose-rhel-coreos-8): Version range not reported. Source: CNA: redhat
- Red Hat / Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4 (openshift/ose-rhel-coreos-9): Version range not reported. Source: CNA: redhat

## Severity and prioritization

- CVSS 3.1: 4.4 (medium); CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:L; source: CNA: redhat

- CVSS 3.1: 4.4 (medium); CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:L; source: NVD: secalert@redhat.com

- CISA KEV: No listing in collected sources

- EPSS: 0.31% as of 2026-11-05; percentile 23.98%

- SSVC: exploitation none; automatable no; technical impact partial; source ADP: CISA-ADP

- Weaknesses: CWE-121

## Exploit evidence

No exploit evidence in collected sources. This is not proof of no exploitation.

## References

- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:28911 (CNA: redhat; vendor-advisory, x_refsource_REDHAT)

- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:33124 (CNA: redhat; vendor-advisory, x_refsource_REDHAT)

- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:33313 (CNA: redhat; vendor-advisory, x_refsource_REDHAT)

- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:33612 (CNA: redhat; vendor-advisory, x_refsource_REDHAT)

- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:34102 (CNA: redhat; vendor-advisory, x_refsource_REDHAT)

- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:39981 (CNA: redhat; vendor-advisory, x_refsource_REDHAT)

- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:44481 (CNA: redhat; vendor-advisory, x_refsource_REDHAT)

- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:46836 (CNA: redhat; vendor-advisory, x_refsource_REDHAT)

- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:50205 (CNA: redhat; vendor-advisory, x_refsource_REDHAT)

- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:58981 (CNA: redhat; vendor-advisory, x_refsource_REDHAT)

- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:69964 (CNA: redhat; vendor-advisory, x_refsource_REDHAT)

- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:72502 (CNA: redhat; vendor-advisory, x_refsource_REDHAT)

- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:82304 (CNA: redhat; vendor-advisory, x_refsource_REDHAT)

- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:82322 (CNA: redhat; vendor-advisory, x_refsource_REDHAT)

- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:82347 (CNA: redhat; vendor-advisory, x_refsource_REDHAT)

- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:82354 (CNA: redhat; vendor-advisory, x_refsource_REDHAT)

- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:82372 (CNA: redhat; vendor-advisory, x_refsource_REDHAT)

- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:82857 (CNA: redhat; vendor-advisory, x_refsource_REDHAT)

- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:82888 (CNA: redhat; vendor-advisory, x_refsource_REDHAT)

- https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2025-5278 (CNA: redhat; vdb-entry, x_refsource_REDHAT)

- https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2368764 (CNA: redhat; issue-tracking, x_refsource_REDHAT)

- https://cgit.git.savannah.gnu.org/cgit/coreutils.git/commit/?id=8c9602e3a145e9596dc1a63c6ed67865814b6633 (CNA: redhat)

- https://debbugs.gnu.org/cgi/bugreport.cgi?bug=78507 (CNA: redhat)

- http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2025/05/27/2 (ADP: CVE)

- http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2025/05/29/1 (ADP: CVE)

- https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2025-5278 (ADP: CVE)

- https://cgit.git.savannah.gnu.org/cgit/coreutils.git/commit/?id=8c9602e3a145e9596dc1a63c6ed67865814b6633 (ADP: CVE)

- https://cgit.git.savannah.gnu.org/cgit/coreutils.git/tree/NEWS?id=8c9602e3a145e9596dc1a63c6ed67865814b6633#n14 (ADP: CVE)

- http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2025/05/29/2 (ADP: CVE)

- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:28911 (secalert@redhat.com)

- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:33124 (secalert@redhat.com)

- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:33313 (secalert@redhat.com)

- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:33612 (secalert@redhat.com)

- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:34102 (secalert@redhat.com)

- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:39981 (secalert@redhat.com)

- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:44481 (secalert@redhat.com)

- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:46836 (secalert@redhat.com)

- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:50205 (secalert@redhat.com)

- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:58981 (secalert@redhat.com)

- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:69964 (secalert@redhat.com)

- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:72502 (secalert@redhat.com)

- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:82304 (secalert@redhat.com)

- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:82322 (secalert@redhat.com)

- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:82347 (secalert@redhat.com)

- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:82354 (secalert@redhat.com)

- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:82372 (secalert@redhat.com)

- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:82857 (secalert@redhat.com)

- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:82888 (secalert@redhat.com)

- https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2025-5278 (secalert@redhat.com)

- https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2368764 (secalert@redhat.com)

- https://cgit.git.savannah.gnu.org/cgit/coreutils.git/commit/?id=8c9602e3a145e9596dc1a63c6ed67865814b6633 (secalert@redhat.com)

- https://debbugs.gnu.org/cgi/bugreport.cgi?bug=78507 (secalert@redhat.com)

- http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2025/05/27/2 (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)

- http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2025/05/29/1 (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)

- http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2025/05/29/2 (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)

- https://cgit.git.savannah.gnu.org/cgit/coreutils.git/commit/?id=8c9602e3a145e9596dc1a63c6ed67865814b6633 (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)

- https://cgit.git.savannah.gnu.org/cgit/coreutils.git/tree/NEWS?id=8c9602e3a145e9596dc1a63c6ed67865814b6633#n14 (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)

- https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2025-5278 (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)

## Provenance

- CNA: redhat: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2025-5278; retrieved 2026-11-06; source updated 2026-11-06

- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-5278; retrieved 2026-11-05; source updated 2026-11-05

- FIRST EPSS: https://api.first.org/data/v1/epss?cve=CVE-2025-5278; retrieved 2026-11-05; source updated Not reported

Revision: 3cf60033e1cfa9b3af18823a62d30017dc9c3943b97d30bb02853047bbc24da4

Canonical: https://y2.dev/cve/CVE-2025-5278

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