CVE-2025-12200

A vulnerability was determined in dnsmasq up to 2.73rc6. Affected by this issue is the function parse_dhcp_opt of the file src/option.c of the component Config File Handler. This manipulation of the argument m causes null pointer dereference. The attack can only be executed locally. The exploit has been publicly disclosed and may be utilized. The vendor was contacted early about this disclosure but did not respond in any way.

Weakness

The product does not release or incorrectly releases a resource before it is made available for re-use.

Potential Mitigations

• Use a language that does not allow this weakness to occur or provides constructs that make this weakness easier to avoid.
• For example, languages such as Java, Ruby, and Lisp perform automatic garbage collection that releases memory for objects that have been deallocated.

Related Attack Patterns

• https://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/125.html
• https://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/130.html
• https://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/131.html
• https://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/494.html
• https://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/495.html
• https://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/496.html
• https://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/666.html

References

• https://shimo.im/docs/5xkGoMo0WVfY4dkX/
• https://vuldb.com/?ctiid.329870
• https://vuldb.com/?id.329870
• https://vuldb.com/?submit.673155
• https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45727137
• https://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2025/10/27/1