Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
This flaw can crash or disrupt software that uses older libdwarf code when it processes a specially crafted object file. It is mainly an availability risk, not a data-theft or integrity issue based on the supplied CVSS data. The public bundle does not show active exploitation or list affected downstream products.
Executive priority
Treat as a moderate remediation item for engineering and analysis environments. Prioritize systems that automatically process external object files. This is not evidenced as actively exploited in the supplied sources, but it can affect availability of security or development tooling.
Technical view
libdwarf before 20201017 can perform a one-byte out-of-bounds read from an invalid pointer dereference while parsing an invalid DWARF line table in a crafted object. The assigned CVSS 3.1 score is 6.5, with high availability impact and no confidentiality or integrity impact.
Likely exposure
Exposure is most likely in developer, build, analysis, debugging, forensics, or scanning workflows that use libdwarf to inspect object files. The sources do not enumerate downstream products or CPEs, so asset discovery must focus on direct and packaged libdwarf usage.
Exploitation context
The bundle does not show CISA KEV listing or cited evidence of active exploitation. Exploitation depends on vulnerable libdwarf processing a crafted object file, with user interaction indicated by the CVSS vector. The expected impact is service or tool disruption.
Researcher notes
The affected metadata in the bundle is sparse, with vendor, product, and CPE fields listed as n/a. Focus validation on version lineage and code provenance. The core evidence is the upstream fix reference and the project bug note describing DW202010-001.
Mitigation direction
- Upgrade libdwarf to 20201017 or later where available.
- Apply vendor or distribution package updates that include the referenced fix.
- Limit processing of untrusted object files until vulnerable versions are removed.
- Check vendor guidance for downstream products embedding libdwarf.
Validation and detection
- Inventory systems and applications that install or bundle libdwarf.
- Confirm installed libdwarf versions are not earlier than 20201017.
- Review build, analysis, and upload workflows that parse object files.
- Check package changelogs for the referenced commit or CVE fix.
- Verify vendor advisories for embedded or statically linked copies.
Public sources used
Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.
Conservative CVE-to-ATT&CK context
These mappings and lookup hints may be relevant to the vulnerability behavior, CWE, affected product, or exposure path. Glexia-inferred context is not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, CWE, or CVE Program mapping.
ATT&CK lookup starting points
Use these exact CWE pages and searches to review the Glexia ATT&CK library from this CVE's weakness and description context.
CWE-763: Exact CWE lookup
Use the exact CWE identifier as the starting point before reviewing related ATT&CK behavior. Open the exact CWE lookup page first, then review the ATT&CK searches from that MITRE weakness context. This is a Glexia lookup hint, not an official ATT&CK mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupCVE-2020-27545 mapping review
Open the CVE-to-ATT&CK bridge for reviewed, inferred, or future official mappings tied to this CVE.
Open ATT&CK lookup- Severity
- Medium
- CVSS
- 6.5 (3.1)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
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.
CVSS vector scores
1 official scoreWe collect every scored CVSS vector available in the official CNA and ADP containers. When more than one version is present, the table keeps the source vectors side by side instead of collapsing them into the highest score.
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H2.83.6Primary CVE scoreVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.1 score
6.5MediumVector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- https://sourceforge.net/projects/libdwarf/CVE reference
- https://github.com/davea42/libdwarf-code/commit/95f634808c01f1c61bbec56ed2395af997f397eaCVE reference
- https://www.prevanders.net/dwarfbug.html#DW202010-001CVE reference
- https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2025694CVE reference
Products and packages named in the record
CWE details
CWE links open Glexia weakness intelligence pages with official CWE context, developer remediation guidance, and related CVE mappings.
Release of Invalid Pointer or Reference
Release of Invalid Pointer or Reference represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.