CVE-2025-54222: Out-of-Bounds Write Vulnerability in Substance3D – Stager

Overview

CVE-2025-54222 is an out-of-bounds write vulnerability that affects Substance3D – Stager versions 3.1.3 and earlier. An attacker exploiting this vulnerability can execute arbitrary code in the context of the current user. This vulnerability is considered severe due to its potential to lead to system compromise or data leakage. The impact and risk of this vulnerability are significantly increased as it requires user interaction, with the victim needing to open a malicious file to trigger the exploit.

Vulnerability Summary

CVE ID: CVE-2025-54222
Severity: High (7.8 CVSS Score)
Attack Vector: Local
Privileges Required: User
User Interaction: Required
Impact: System compromise or data leakage

Affected Products

Product | Affected Versions

Substance3D – Stager | 3.1.3 and earlier

How the Exploit Works

The exploit works by leveraging an out-of-bounds write vulnerability in Substance3D – Stager. An attacker can craft a malicious file that, when opened by the victim, triggers the vulnerability, allowing the attacker to write data beyond the allocated memory boundaries. This unauthorized write access can lead to arbitrary code execution in the context of the current user, potentially leading to a full system compromise or data leakage.

Conceptual Example Code

This conceptual example shows how a malicious payload might be embedded in a file to exploit the vulnerability. The code is abstract and doesn’t represent any real programming language, but it’s intended to demonstrate the nature of the exploit.

# hypothetical malicious_payload
malicious_payload = b"\x90" * 1000  # NOP sled
malicious_payload += b"\xCC" * 100  # INT 3 instructions
# hypothetical file write operation
with open("malicious_file.stg", "wb") as f:
f.write(b"regular_data")
f.write(b"\x00" * 10)  # padding
f.write(malicious_payload)

In the above hypothetical scenario, the malicious payload, when loaded by Substance3D – Stager, would trigger the out-of-bounds write vulnerability, potentially leading to arbitrary code execution. The actual exploit would be far more complex and would require in-depth knowledge of the system and software internals.

Mitigation Guidance

To prevent exploitation of this vulnerability, users are advised to apply the latest patch provided by the vendor. If a patch is not available or cannot be applied immediately, using a Web Application Firewall (WAF) or an Intrusion Detection System (IDS) can provide temporary mitigation. These systems can detect and block known malicious activities related to this vulnerability. However, they may not be able to block a sophisticated or zero-day exploit. Therefore, it’s always recommended to apply the vendor’s patches as soon as they’re available.