CVE-2019-16941
9.8
CRITICAL · CVSS 3.1 · EPSS 5.1% (pctl 92)
In your normal cycle
Critical by CVSS (9.8), but no sign of active exploitation.
Description
NSA Ghidra through 9.0.4, when experimental mode is enabled, allows arbitrary code execution if the Read XML Files feature of Bit Patterns Explorer is used with a modified XML document. This occurs in Features/BytePatterns/src/main/java/ghidra/bitpatterns/info/FileBitPatternInfoReader.java. An attack could start with an XML document that was originally created by DumpFunctionPatternInfoScript but then directly modified by an attacker (for example, to make a java.lang.Runtime.exec call).
Scoring
| CVSS | 9.8 (CRITICAL, v3.1) |
|---|---|
| Vector | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H |
| EPSS | 5.13% — more likely to be exploited than 92% of all CVEs |
| Weakness | CWE-91 |
| On CISA KEV | no |
| Public exploit | none known |
| Published | 2019-09-28 |
| Last modified | 2026-06-17 |
Affected (1)
| Vendor | Product |
|---|---|
| nsa | ghidra |
References
- https://github.com/NationalSecurityAgency/ghidra/blob/79d8f164f8bb8b15cfb60c5d4faeb8e1c25d15ca/Ghidra/Features/BytePatterns/src/main/java/ghidra/bitpatterns/info/FileBitPatternInfoReader.java#L187-L188
- https://github.com/NationalSecurityAgency/ghidra/commit/a17728f8c12effa171b17a25ccfb7e7d9528c5d0
- https://github.com/NationalSecurityAgency/ghidra/issues/1090
- https://github.com/purpleracc00n/CVE-2019-16941
- https://twitter.com/NSAGov/status/1178812792159248385
- https://www.symantec.com/security-center/vulnerabilities/writeup/110223?om_rssid=sr-advisories
- https://github.com/NationalSecurityAgency/ghidra/blob/79d8f164f8bb8b15cfb60c5d4faeb8e1c25d15ca/Ghidra/Features/BytePatterns/src/main/java/ghidra/bitpatterns/info/FileBitPatternInfoReader.java#L187-L188
- https://github.com/NationalSecurityAgency/ghidra/commit/a17728f8c12effa171b17a25ccfb7e7d9528c5d0
- https://github.com/NationalSecurityAgency/ghidra/issues/1090
- https://github.com/purpleracc00n/CVE-2019-16941
- https://twitter.com/NSAGov/status/1178812792159248385
- https://www.symantec.com/security-center/vulnerabilities/writeup/110223?om_rssid=sr-advisories
→ the Explorer · watch your stack · NVD