XZ Utils provide a general-purpose data-compression library plus command-line tools. In XZ Utils 5.3.3alpha to 5.8.0, the multithreaded .xz decoder in liblzma has a bug where invalid input can at least result in a crash. The effects include heap use after free and writing to an address based on the null pointer plus an offset. Applications and libraries that use the lzma_stream_decoder_mt function are affected. The bug has been fixed in XZ Utils 5.8.1, and the fix has been committed to the v5.4, v5.6, v5.8, and master branches in the xz Git repository. No new release packages will be made from the old stable branches, but a standalone patch is available that applies to all affected releases.

The version of FreeBSD installed on the remote host is prior to tested version. It is, therefore, affected by a vulnerability as referenced in the 7642ba72-5abf-11f0-87ba-002590c1f29c advisory.

    A worker thread could free its input buffer after decoding,             while the main thread might still be writing to it.  This leads to             an use-after-free condition on heap memory.
    An attacker may use specifically crafted .xz file to cause             multi-threaded xz decoder to crash, or potentially run arbitrary             code under the credential the decoder was executed.

Tenable has extracted the preceding description block directly from the FreeBSD security advisory.

Note that Nessus has not tested for this issue but has instead relied only on the application's self-reported version number.

The remote Oracle Linux 10 host has packages installed that are affected by a vulnerability as referenced in the ELSA-2025-7524 advisory.

    - Fix: heap-use-after-free bug in threaded .xz decoder (CVE-2025-31115)

Tenable has extracted the preceding description block directly from the Oracle Linux security advisory.

Note that Nessus has not tested for this issue but has instead relied only on the application's self-reported version number.

The remote Redhat Enterprise Linux 10 host has packages installed that are affected by a vulnerability as referenced in the RHSA-2025:7524 advisory.

    XZ Utils is an integrated collection of user-space file compression utilities based on the Lempel-Ziv-     Markov chain algorithm (LZMA), which performs lossless data compression. The algorithm provides a high     compression ratio while keeping the decompression time short.

    Security Fix(es):

    * xz: XZ has a heap-use-after-free bug in threaded .xz decoder (CVE-2025-31115)

    For more details about the security issue(s), including the impact, a CVSS score, acknowledgments, and     other related information, refer to the CVE page(s) listed in the References section.

Tenable has extracted the preceding description block directly from the Red Hat Enterprise Linux security advisory.

Note that Nessus has not tested for this issue but has instead relied only on the application's self-reported version number.

The remote Debian 12 host has packages installed that are affected by a vulnerability as referenced in the dsa-5895 advisory.

    - -------------------------------------------------------------------------     Debian Security Advisory DSA-5895-1                   security@debian.org     https://www.debian.org/security/                     Salvatore Bonaccorso     April 05, 2025                        https://www.debian.org/security/faq
    - -------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Package        : xz-utils     CVE ID         : CVE-2025-31115

    Harri K. Koskinen discovered a flaw in the multithreaded .xz decoder     lzma_stream_decoder_mt in xz-utils, the XZ-format compression utilities,     which may lead to denial of service (application crash) or the execution     of arbitrary code.

    For the stable distribution (bookworm), this problem has been fixed in     version 5.4.1-1.

    We recommend that you upgrade your xz-utils packages.

    For the detailed security status of xz-utils please refer to its     security tracker page at:
    https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/xz-utils

    Further information about Debian Security Advisories, how to apply     these updates to your system and frequently asked questions can be     found at: https://www.debian.org/security/

    Mailing list: debian-security-announce@lists.debian.org

Tenable has extracted the preceding description block directly from the Debian security advisory.

Note that Nessus has not tested for this issue but has instead relied only on the application's self-reported version number.

The remote Fedora 41 host has packages installed that are affected by a vulnerability as referenced in the FEDORA-2025-051becf4f2 advisory.

    xz 5.8.1


Tenable has extracted the preceding description block directly from the Fedora security advisory.

Note that Nessus has not tested for this issue but has instead relied only on the application's self-reported version number.

The remote Fedora 40 host has packages installed that are affected by a vulnerability as referenced in the FEDORA-2025-4871b31998 advisory.

    xz 5.8.1


Tenable has extracted the preceding description block directly from the Fedora security advisory.

Note that Nessus has not tested for this issue but has instead relied only on the application's self-reported version number.

An update of the xz package has been released.

The remote host is affected by the vulnerability described in GLSA-202504-01 (XZ Utils: Use after free)

    A use-after-free has been discovered in XZ utils. Please review the CVE identifier referenced below for     details.

Tenable has extracted the preceding description block directly from the Gentoo Linux security advisory.

Note that Nessus has not tested for this issue but has instead relied only on the application's self-reported version number.

The remote SUSE Linux SLED15 / SLED_SAP15 / SLES15 / SLES_SAP15 / openSUSE 15 host has packages installed that are affected by a vulnerability as referenced in the SUSE-SU-2025:1137-1 advisory.

    - CVE-2025-31115: Fixed heap use after free and writing to an address based on the null pointer plus an     offset (bsc#1240414)

Tenable has extracted the preceding description block directly from the SUSE security advisory.

Note that Nessus has not tested for this issue but has instead relied only on the application's self-reported version number.

The remote Ubuntu 24.04 LTS / 24.10 host has packages installed that are affected by a vulnerability as referenced in the USN-7414-1 advisory.

    Harri K. Koskinen discovered that XZ Utils incorrectly handled the threaded xz decoder. If a user or     automated system were tricked into processing an xz file, a remote attacker could use this issue to cause     XZ Utils to crash, resulting in a denial of service, or possibly execute arbitrary code.

Tenable has extracted the preceding description block directly from the Ubuntu security advisory.

Note that Nessus has not tested for this issue but has instead relied only on the application's self-reported version number.

ID	Name	Product	Family	Severity
241491	FreeBSD : FreeBSD -- Use-after-free in multi-threaded xz decoder (7642ba72-5abf-11f0-87ba-002590c1f29c)	Nessus	FreeBSD Local Security Checks	high
240868	Oracle Linux 10 : xz (ELSA-2025-7524)	Nessus	Oracle Linux Local Security Checks	high
237825	RHEL 10 : xz (RHSA-2025:7524)	Nessus	Red Hat Local Security Checks	high
236775	Debian dsa-5895 : liblzma-dev - security update	Nessus	Debian Local Security Checks	high
235682	Fedora 41 : perl-Compress-Raw-Lzma / xz (2025-051becf4f2)	Nessus	Fedora Local Security Checks	high
235677	Fedora 40 : perl-Compress-Raw-Lzma / xz (2025-4871b31998)	Nessus	Fedora Local Security Checks	high
233960	Photon OS 5.0: Xz PHSA-2025-5.0-0496	Nessus	PhotonOS Local Security Checks	high
233877	GLSA-202504-01 : XZ Utils: Use after free	Nessus	Gentoo Local Security Checks	high
233842	SUSE SLED15 / SLES15 / openSUSE 15 Security Update : xz (SUSE-SU-2025:1137-1)	Nessus	SuSE Local Security Checks	high
233831	Ubuntu 24.04 LTS / 24.10 : XZ Utils vulnerability (USN-7414-1)	Nessus	Ubuntu Local Security Checks	high

Detections

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CVE-2025-31115

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Tenable Plugins

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