CVE-2020-16590

binutils: double free vulnerability in process_symbol_table could result in DoS

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Severity

Moderate

Red Hat Product Security

5.5

CVSS 3.1

Review impact separately from score.

Published · December 10, 2020

Updated · November 22, 2025

Description

A double free vulnerability exists in the Binary File Descriptor (BFD) (aka libbrd) in GNU Binutils 2.35 in the process_symbol_table, as demonstrated in readelf, via a crafted file.

Statement

binutils as shipped in Red Hat Developer Toolsets 9 and 10, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 BaseOS and GCC Toolsets 9 and 10, are all not affected by this flaw as it was introduced in a newer version of binutils code than shipped for BaseOS and the 9 toolsets, but already patched in the versions shipped with 10 toolsets.

CVSS score applicability

The CVSS score(s) listed for this vulnerability do not reflect the associated product's status, and are included for informational purposes to better understand the severity of this vulnerability.

Mitigation

No mitigation is specified in collected source.

CVSS / CWE

CVSS 3.1 · 5.5
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

CWE-416 · Use After Free