{"id":64214,"date":"2025-08-21T11:13:54","date_gmt":"2025-08-21T11:13:54","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2025-09-03T03:47:09","modified_gmt":"2025-09-03T09:47:09","slug":"cve-2025-50518-critical-use-after-free-vulnerability-in-libcoap-library","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2025-50518-critical-use-after-free-vulnerability-in-libcoap-library\/","title":{"rendered":"<strong>CVE-2025-50518: Critical Use-After-Free Vulnerability in libcoap Library<\/strong>"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Overview<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The cybersecurity landscape is witnessing a new vulnerability that poses a significant threat to the data integrity and system security of numerous devices and applications. The vulnerability, identified as CVE-2025-50518, affects the libcoap library, widely used in embedded systems and IoT devices for the Constrained Application Protocol (CoAP). This <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2025-33075-a-critical-windows-installer-vulnerability-that-leads-to-privilege-elevation\/\"  data-wpil-monitor-id=\"72362\">vulnerability can lead<\/a> to severe outcomes, including potential system compromise and data leakage. Given the ubiquitous use of libcoap in a range of devices, the implications of this vulnerability are far-reaching and demand immediate attention.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Vulnerability Summary<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>CVE ID: CVE-2025-50518<br \/>\nSeverity: Critical (9.8 CVSS Score)<br \/>\nAttack Vector: Network<br \/>\nPrivileges Required: None<br \/>\nUser Interaction: None<br \/>\nImpact: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2025-40741-stack-based-overflow-vulnerability-in-solid-edge-se2025-leading-to-potential-system-compromise\/\"  data-wpil-monitor-id=\"75772\">Potential system<\/a> compromise, data leakage<\/p>\n<p><strong>Affected Products<\/strong><\/p><div id=\"ameeb-4065106939\" class=\"ameeb-content-2 ameeb-entity-placement\"><div style=\"border-left: 4px solid #555; padding-left: 20px; margin: 48px 0; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; color: #ffffff; line-height: 1.6; max-width: 700px;\">\r\n  <h2 style=\"margin-top: 0; font-size: 20px; font-weight: 600; display: flex; align-items: center;\">\r\n    <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/chat\" style=\"display: inline-flex; align-items: center; margin-right: 8px;\">\r\n      <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Best-App-icon-Ameeba.png\" alt=\"Ameeba Chat Icon\" style=\"width: 40px; height: 40px;\" \/>\r\n    <\/a>\r\n    A new way to communicate\r\n  <\/h2>\r\n\r\n  <p style=\"margin-bottom: 12px;\">\r\n    Ameeba Chat is built on encrypted identity, not personal profiles.\r\n  <\/p>\r\n\r\n  <p style=\"margin-bottom: 16px;\">\r\n    Message, call, share files, and coordinate with identities kept separate.\r\n  <\/p>\r\n\r\n  <ul style=\"list-style: none; padding-left: 0; margin-bottom: 20px;\">\r\n    <li>\u2022 Encrypted identity<\/li>\r\n    <li>\u2022 Ameeba Chat authenticates access<\/li>\r\n    <li>\u2022 Aliases and categories<\/li>\r\n    <li>\u2022 End-to-end encrypted chat, calls, and files<\/li>\r\n    <li>\u2022 Secure notes for sensitive information<\/li>\r\n  <\/ul>\r\n\r\n  <p style=\"font-style: italic; font-weight: 600; margin-bottom: 24px;\">\r\n    Private communication, rethought.\r\n  <\/p>\r\n\r\n  <div style=\"display: flex; flex-wrap: wrap; gap: 12px;\">\r\n    <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/chat\/download\" style=\"background-color: #ffffff; color: #000000; padding: 10px 20px; text-decoration: none; border-radius: 6px; font-weight: 500;\">Download Ameeba Chat<\/a>\r\n    <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/chat\" style=\"border: 1px solid #ffffff; color: #ffffff; padding: 10px 20px; text-decoration: none; border-radius: 6px; font-weight: 500;\">Learn More<\/a>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\n<p>Product | Affected Versions<\/p>\n<p>libcoap | All <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2025-55010-arbitrary-php-object-instantiation-in-kanboard-prior-to-version-1-2-47\/\"  data-wpil-monitor-id=\"77917\">versions prior<\/a> to patch<\/p>\n<p><strong>How the Exploit Works<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The exploit leverages a use-after-free vulnerability in the coap_delete_pdu_lkd function within the coap_pdu.c file of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2025-48903-permission-bypass-vulnerability-in-media-library-module\/\"  data-wpil-monitor-id=\"72884\">libcoap<\/a> library. This <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2025-43193-critical-memory-handling-vulnerability-in-macos\/\"  data-wpil-monitor-id=\"71678\">vulnerability arises due to the improper handling of memory<\/a> after the freeing of a Protocol Data Unit (PDU) object.<br \/>\nAn attacker can manipulate this <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2023-41530-critical-sql-injection-vulnerability-in-hospital-management-system-v4\/\"  data-wpil-monitor-id=\"75917\">vulnerability by creating a malicious payload that causes the system<\/a> to access the free memory space associated with the PDU object. This action can lead to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2025-27031-memory-corruption-via-ioctl-commands-processing\/\"  data-wpil-monitor-id=\"71595\">memory corruption<\/a> or even the execution of arbitrary code, paving the way for a potential system compromise or data leakage.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Conceptual Example Code<\/strong><\/p><div id=\"ameeb-518909917\" class=\"ameeb-content ameeb-entity-placement\"><div class=\"poptin-embedded\" data-id=\"f6b387694f681\"><\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<\/div>\n<p>The following is a conceptual example of how the vulnerability might be exploited. It&#8217;s important to note that this is a conceptual example and not actual exploit code.<\/p>\n<pre><code class=\"\" data-line=\"\">#include &lt;coap.h&gt;\n...\ncoap_pdu_t *pdu;\npdu = coap_new_pdu(session);\n...\n\/\/ Malicious function that exploits the use-after-free vulnerability\nvoid exploit(coap_pdu_t *pdu) {\ncoap_delete_pdu(session, pdu); \/\/ Free the pdu\n\/\/ Perform an operation on the freed pdu, causing use-after-free\nunsigned char *data = pdu-&gt;data;\n}\n...\nexploit(pdu);<\/code><\/pre>\n<p><strong>Mitigation Guidance<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Users are strongly advised to apply the vendor patch as soon as possible for the most effective mitigation. In the interim, employing a Web Application Firewall (WAF) or Intrusion Detection System (IDS) can serve as a temporary mitigation strategy. These tools can help <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2025-20217-denial-of-service-vulnerability-in-snort-3-detection-engine-of-cisco-secure-firewall-threat-defense-software\/\"  data-wpil-monitor-id=\"76971\">detect and prevent attempts to exploit the vulnerability<\/a>. However, these are not foolproof solutions and do not substitute the need for applying the vendor patch.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Overview The cybersecurity landscape is witnessing a new vulnerability that poses a significant threat to the data integrity and system security of numerous devices and applications. The vulnerability, identified as CVE-2025-50518, affects the libcoap library, widely used in embedded systems and IoT devices for the Constrained Application Protocol (CoAP). This vulnerability can lead to severe [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"vendor":[],"product":[],"attack_vector":[],"asset_type":[],"severity":[],"exploit_status":[],"class_list":["post-64214","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64214","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=64214"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64214\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":70309,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64214\/revisions\/70309"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=64214"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=64214"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=64214"},{"taxonomy":"vendor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/vendor?post=64214"},{"taxonomy":"product","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product?post=64214"},{"taxonomy":"attack_vector","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/attack_vector?post=64214"},{"taxonomy":"asset_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/asset_type?post=64214"},{"taxonomy":"severity","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/severity?post=64214"},{"taxonomy":"exploit_status","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/exploit_status?post=64214"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}