UAF in GRUB gettext module leads to denial of service
CVE-2025-61662 Published on November 18, 2025
Grub2: missing unregister call for gettext command may lead to use-after-free
A Use-After-Free vulnerability has been discovered in GRUB's gettext module. This flaw stems from a programming error where the gettext command remains registered in memory after its module is unloaded. An attacker can exploit this condition by invoking the orphaned command, causing the application to access a memory location that is no longer valid. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability to cause grub to crash, leading to a Denial of Service. Possible data integrity or confidentiality compromise is not discarded.
Vulnerability Analysis
CVE-2025-61662 is exploitable with local system access, and requires small amount of user privileges. This vulnerability is considered to have a low attack complexity. The potential impact of an exploit of this vulnerability is considered to be very high.
Timeline
Reported to Red Hat.
Made public. 6 days later.
Weakness Type
What is a Dangling pointer Vulnerability?
Referencing memory after it has been freed can cause a program to crash, use unexpected values, or execute code.
CVE-2025-61662 has been classified to as a Dangling pointer vulnerability or weakness.
Products Associated with CVE-2025-61662
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Affected Versions
GNU grub2:- Before and including 2.14 is affected.
Exploit Probability
EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) scores estimate the probability that a vulnerability will be exploited in the wild within the next 30 days. The percentile shows you how this score compares to all other vulnerabilities.