Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
Libarchive versions before 3.8.0 can write one byte beyond a memory boundary while constructing certain archive entry names. This may corrupt memory or crash the calling application. More advanced exploitation is described only as a possibility, not a demonstrated outcome.
Executive priority
Treat this as routine, risk-based patching rather than an emergency. Prioritize exposed archive-generation services and multi-user systems, then address other affected deployments during normal maintenance. Escalate if internal testing reveals reliable corruption beyond denial of service.
Technical view
An off-by-one calculation in build_ustar_entry_name() within archive_write_set_format_pax.c can cause a one-byte out-of-bounds write when handling filename prefixes and suffixes. CVE-2025-5917 is classified as CWE-787 with CVSS 3.1 score 2.8, requiring local access, low privileges, and user interaction.
Likely exposure
Exposure primarily concerns applications and operating-system components using libarchive versions before 3.8.0. The bundle identifies RHEL 8, 9, and 10 and OpenShift Container Platform 4 as affected. RHEL 6 and 7 status is unknown. Actual risk depends on whether vulnerable archive-writing functionality processes attacker-influenced filenames.
Exploitation context
The source bundle provides no evidence of active exploitation, and the CVE is not listed as KEV. The documented impact is availability loss through crashes. Memory corruption could potentially support more sophisticated exploitation, but no demonstrated confidentiality or integrity impact is cited.
Researcher notes
The confirmed primitive is a one-byte write overflow in PAX-format entry-name construction. The supplied CVSS vector limits the documented outcome to availability. Red Hat product status is mixed, and the bundle does not identify fixed distribution package versions; validate remediation against current vendor guidance and backport information.
Mitigation direction
- Upgrade upstream libarchive to version 3.8.0 or later where appropriate.
- For Red Hat systems, apply the vendor-supported package or advisory when available.
- Inventory embedded or statically linked libarchive copies that package managers may miss.
- Limit untrusted users' ability to influence filenames passed into archive-writing workflows.
Validation and detection
- Record installed and embedded libarchive versions across affected applications and hosts.
- Confirm whether applications create archives containing attacker-influenced filenames.
- Check Red Hat's CVE status for each deployed RHEL or OpenShift release.
- After remediation, verify applications load the updated library rather than an older bundled copy.
- Review crash and memory-error telemetry for archive-writing processes.
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-787: 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 lookupContainer behavior lookup
The affected technology mentions containers, so container-specific ATT&CK technique review may help. This is a Glexia inferred lookup path, not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, or CVE Program mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupCVE-2025-5917 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
- Low
- CVSS
- 2.8 (3.1)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L
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.
SSVC decision data
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:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L1.31.4redhatVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.1 score
2.8LowVector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L
Vulnerability timeline
Timeline events are normalized from CVE metadata, CNA source timelines, ADP timelines, and KEV metadata when present.
- Source timelineredhat
Made public.
- Source timelineredhat
Reported to Red Hat.
- CVE reservedCVE Program
The CVE ID was reserved by the assigning CNA.
- CVE publishedCVE Program
The CVE record was published.
- CVE updatedCVE Program
The CVE record metadata indicates this as the latest update time.
ADP provider summaries
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2025-5917CVE reference, redhat · vdb-entry, x_refsource_REDHAT
- RHBZ#2370874CVE reference, redhat · issue-tracking, x_refsource_REDHAT
- https://github.com/libarchive/libarchive/pull/2588CVE reference, redhat
- https://github.com/libarchive/libarchive/releases/tag/v3.8.0CVE reference, redhat
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.
Out-of-bounds Write
Out-of-bounds Write represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.