High severity · published Jan 20, 2026
CVE-2025-15281
wordexp with WRDE_REUSE and WRDE_APPEND may return uninitialized memory
7.5
CVSS
0.5%
EPSS
No
On KEV
Description
Calling wordexp with WRDE_REUSE in conjunction with WRDE_APPEND in the GNU C Library version 2.0 to version 2.42 may cause the interface to return uninitialized memory in the we_wordv member, which on subsequent calls to wordfree may abort the process.
CVSS vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High
Scope
Unchanged
Exploitation
Is it being used?
Exploit prediction (EPSS)0.5% · higher than 42% of CVEs
Exploited in the wildNo evidence yet
CISA KEVNot listed
Ransomware campaign useNot known
Affected products
Which versions
GL
glibc · The GNU C Library
2.0 through 2.42 · source: vendor, NVD
References
NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-15281
CVE.org
https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2025-15281
Issue Tracking
https://sourceware.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=33814
Mailing List
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2026/01/20/3
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