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CVE Record

CVE-2020-25887: Buffer overflow in mg_resolve_from_hosts_file in Mongoose 6.18, when reading from a crafted hosts file.

Buffer overflow in mg_resolve_from_hosts_file in Mongoose 6.18, when reading from a crafted hosts file.

UnknownCVSS not scoredNot KEV-listedUpdated
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Glexia's TakeAutomated analysisunknown

Security readout for executives and security teams

Plain-English summary

CVE-2020-25887 describes a buffer overflow in Mongoose 6.18 when it reads a crafted hosts file. Business urgency depends on whether your products or embedded components use Mongoose 6.18 and whether an attacker can influence the hosts file. The provided sources do not give severity, CVSS, or confirmed exploitation.

Executive priority

Prioritize inventory and exposure confirmation rather than emergency response. Escalate if Mongoose 6.18 is present in internet-facing products, multi-tenant systems, or environments where attackers can alter local configuration files.

Technical view

The issue is in mg_resolve_from_hosts_file in Mongoose 6.18. The described trigger is parsing a crafted hosts file, leading to a buffer overflow. The structured CVE data does not identify populated vendor/product CPEs, CWE, CVSS, fixed versions, or detailed impact conditions.

Likely exposure

Exposure is most plausible in applications or appliances embedding Mongoose 6.18 and using its hosts-file resolver path. Risk increases if local configuration files, container images, or filesystem contents can be modified by untrusted users or compromised deployment processes.

Exploitation context

The source bundle does not show CISA KEV listing or any cited evidence of active exploitation. It only supports a crafted-hosts-file trigger. No exploit maturity, remote reachability, privilege requirement, or post-overflow impact is established in the provided sources.

Researcher notes

Evidence is sparse. The CVE description and title identify the affected function, version, and crafted hosts file condition, but not crashability versus code execution, affected platforms, fix commit, or reachable attack surface. Treat any deeper impact assessment as unconfirmed without vendor or code review.

Mitigation direction

  • Inventory products and codebases for embedded or vendored Mongoose 6.18.
  • Review the GitHub issue and vendor guidance for fixed or unaffected versions.
  • Restrict hosts file write access to trusted administrative paths only.
  • Harden build and deployment pipelines against unauthorized configuration-file changes.
  • Monitor vendor advisories before asserting a specific patch level.

Validation and detection

  • Search SBOMs, lockfiles, firmware manifests, and source trees for Mongoose 6.18.
  • Confirm whether applications call Mongoose resolver functionality that reads hosts files.
  • Verify filesystem permissions prevent untrusted hosts file modification.
  • Check runtime images and containers for unexpected hosts file changes.
  • Document any vendor response, fixed release, or compensating control evidence.
Prepared
Confidence
low
Sources
3

Public sources used

Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.

Potential ATT&CK relevance

Conservative CVE-to-ATT&CK context

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Vulnerability profileCVE Program record
Severity
Unknown
CVSS
Not scored
Known Exploited
No
Published
Official CVE source material

CNA and ADP enrichment extracted from CVE v5

These fields come from the CVE record and ADP containers, not from Glexia's Take. They preserve time-varying source decisions such as CISA SSVC, KEV status, CVSS metrics, and provider references.

0CVSS vectors
0Timeline events
0ADP providers
2Source links

CVSS and timeline data

No CVSS vectors or timeline events were available in the normalized CVE source material.

Source materials

Affected products

Products and packages named in the record

VendorProductVersion / packageStatus
n/an/an/aListed
Weakness

CWE details

No CWE listed

CWE links open Glexia weakness intelligence pages with official CWE context, developer remediation guidance, and related CVE mappings.