An update of the binutils package has been released.

The remote SUSE Linux SLED12 / SLES12 / SLES_SAP12 host has packages installed that are affected by multiple vulnerabilities as referenced in the SUSE-SU-2021:3593-1 advisory.

    Update to binutils 2.37:

    * The GNU Binutils sources now requires a C99 compiler and library to       build.
    * Support for the arm-symbianelf format has been removed.
    * Support for Realm Management Extension (RME) for AArch64 has been       added.
    * A new linker option '-z report-relative-reloc' for x86 ELF targets       has been added to report dynamic relative relocations.
    * A new linker option '-z start-stop-gc' has been added to disable       special treatment of __start_*/__stop_* references when
      --gc-sections.
    * A new linker options '-Bno-symbolic' has been added which will       cancel the '-Bsymbolic' and '-Bsymbolic-functions' options.
    * The readelf tool has a new command line option which can be used to       specify how the numeric values of symbols are reported.
      --sym-base=0|8|10|16 tells readelf to display the values in base 8,       base 10 or base 16.  A sym base of 0 represents the default action       of displaying values under 10000 in base 10 and values above that in       base 16.
    * A new format has been added to the nm program.  Specifying       '--format=just-symbols' (or just using -j) will tell the program to       only display symbol names and nothing else.
    * A new command line option '--keep-section-symbols' has been added to       objcopy and strip.  This stops the removal of unused section symbols       when the file is copied.  Removing these symbols saves space, but       sometimes they are needed by other tools.
    * The '--weaken', '--weaken-symbol' and '--weaken-symbols' options       supported by objcopy now make undefined symbols weak on targets that       support weak symbols.
    * Readelf and objdump can now display and use the contents of .debug_sup       sections.
    * Readelf and objdump will now follow links to separate debug info       files by default.  This behaviour can be stopped via the use of the       new '-wN' or '--debug-dump=no-follow-links' options for readelf and       the '-WN' or '--dwarf=no-follow-links' options for objdump.  Also       the old behaviour can be restored by the use of the       '--enable-follow-debug-links=no' configure time option.

      The semantics of the =follow-links option have also been slightly       changed.  When enabled, the option allows for the loading of symbol       tables and string tables from the separate files which can be used       to enhance the information displayed when dumping other sections,       but it does not automatically imply that information from the       separate files should be displayed.

      If other debug section display options are also enabled (eg       '--debug-dump=info') then the contents of matching sections in both       the main file and the separate debuginfo file *will* be displayed.
      This is because in most cases the debug section will only be present       in one of the files.

      If however non-debug section display options are enabled (eg       '--sections') then the contents of matching parts of the separate       debuginfo file will *not* be displayed.  This is because in most       cases the user probably only wanted to load the symbol information       from the separate debuginfo file.  In order to change this behaviour       a new command line option --process-links can be used.  This will       allow di0pslay options to applied to both the main file and any       separate debuginfo files.
    * Nm has a new command line option: '--quiet'.  This suppresses 'no       symbols' diagnostic.

    Update to binutils 2.36:

     New features in the Assembler:

      General:

       * When setting the link order attribute of ELF sections, it is now          possible to use a numeric section index instead of symbol name.
       * Added a .nop directive to generate a single no-op instruction in          a target neutral manner.  This instruction does have an effect on          DWARF line number generation, if that is active.
       * Removed --reduce-memory-overheads and --hash-size as gas now          uses hash tables that can be expand and shrink automatically.

       X86/x86_64:

         * Add support for AVX VNNI, HRESET, UINTR, TDX, AMX and Key            Locker instructions.
         * Support non-absolute segment values for lcall and ljmp.
         * Add {disp16} pseudo prefix to x86 assembler.
         * Configure with --enable-x86-used-note by default for Linux/x86.

       ARM/AArch64:

         * Add support for Cortex-A78, Cortex-A78AE and Cortex-X1,            Cortex-R82, Neoverse V1, and Neoverse N2 cores.
         * Add support for ETMv4 (Embedded Trace Macrocell), ETE (Embedded            Trace Extension), TRBE (Trace Buffer Extension), CSRE (Call            Stack Recorder Extension) and BRBE (Branch Record Buffer            Extension) system registers.
         * Add support for Armv8-R and Armv8.7-A ISA extensions.
         * Add support for DSB memory nXS barrier, WFET and WFIT            instruction for Armv8.7.
         * Add support for +csre feature for -march. Add CSR PDEC            instruction for CSRE feature in AArch64.
         * Add support for +flagm feature for -march in Armv8.4 AArch64.
         * Add support for +ls64 feature for -march in Armv8.7            AArch64. Add atomic 64-byte load/store instructions for this            feature.
         * Add support for +pauth (Pointer Authentication) feature for
           -march in AArch64.

      New features in the Linker:

        * Add --error-handling-script=<NAME> command line option to allow           a helper script to be invoked when an undefined symbol or a           missing library is encountered.  This option can be suppressed           via the configure time switch: --enable-error-handling-script=no.
        * Add -z x86-64-{baseline|v[234]} to the x86 ELF linker to mark           x86-64-{baseline|v[234]} ISA level as needed.
        * Add -z unique-symbol to avoid duplicated local symbol names.
        * The creation of PE format DLLs now defaults to using a more           secure set of DLL characteristics.
        * The linker now deduplicates the types in .ctf sections.  The new            command-line option --ctf-share-types describes how to do this:
           its default value, share-unconflicted, produces the most compact            output.
        * The linker now omits the 'variable section' from .ctf sections           by default, saving space.  This is almost certainly what you           want unless you are working on a project that has its own           analogue of symbol tables that are not reflected in the ELF           symtabs.

    New features in other binary tools:

        * The ar tool's previously unused l modifier is now used for           specifying dependencies of a static library. The arguments of           this option (or --record-libdeps long form option) will be           stored verbatim in the __.LIBDEP member of the archive, which           the linker may read at link time.
        * Readelf can now display the contents of LTO symbol table           sections when asked to do so via the --lto-syms command line           option.
        * Readelf now accepts the -C command line option to enable the           demangling of symbol names.  In addition the --demangle=<style>,
          --no-demangle, --recurse-limit and --no-recurse-limit options           are also now availale.

    Update to binutils 2.35.1:

    * This is a point release over the previous 2.35 version, containing bug       fixes, and as an exception to the usual rule, one new feature.  The       new feature is the support for a new directive in the assembler:
      '.nop'.  This directive creates a single no-op instruction in whatever       encoding is correct for the target architecture.  Unlike the .space or       .fill this is a real instruction, and it does affect the generation of       DWARF line number tables, should they be enabled.

    Update to binutils 2.35:

    * The assembler can now produce DWARF-5 format line number tables.
    * Readelf now has a 'lint' mode to enable extra checks of the files it is processing.
    * Readelf will now display '[...]' when it has to truncate a symbol name.
      The old behaviour - of displaying as many characters as possible, up to       the 80 column limit - can be restored by the use of the --silent-truncation       option.
    * The linker can now produce a dependency file listing the inputs that it       has processed, much like the -M -MP option supported by the compiler.

    Update to binutils 2.34:

    * The disassembler (objdump --disassemble) now has an option to       generate ascii art thats show the arcs between that start and end       points of control flow instructions.
    * The binutils tools now have support for debuginfod.  Debuginfod is a       HTTP service for distributing ELF/DWARF debugging information as       well as source code.  The tools can now connect to debuginfod       servers in order to download debug information about the files that       they are processing.
    * The assembler and linker now support the generation of ELF format       files for the Z80 architecture.

    Update to binutils 2.33.1:

    * Adds support for the Arm Scalable Vector Extension version 2       (SVE2) instructions, the Arm Transactional Memory Extension (TME)       instructions and the Armv8.1-M Mainline and M-profile Vector       Extension (MVE) instructions.
    * Adds support for the Arm Cortex-A76AE, Cortex-A77 and Cortex-M35P       processors and the AArch64 Cortex-A34, Cortex-A65, Cortex-A65AE,       Cortex-A76AE, and Cortex-A77 processors.
    * Adds a .float16 directive for both Arm and AArch64 to allow       encoding of 16-bit floating point literals.
    * For MIPS, Add -m[no-]fix-loongson3-llsc option to fix (or not)       Loongson3 LLSC Errata.  Add a --enable-mips-fix-loongson3-llsc=[yes|no]       configure time option to set the default behavior. Set the default       if the configure option is not used to 'no'.
    * The Cortex-A53 Erratum 843419 workaround now supports a choice of       which workaround to use.  The option --fix-cortex-a53-843419 now       takes an optional argument --fix-cortex-a53-843419[=full|adr|adrp]       which can be used to force a particular workaround to be used.
      See --help for AArch64 for more details.
    * Add support for GNU_PROPERTY_AARCH64_FEATURE_1_BTI and       GNU_PROPERTY_AARCH64_FEATURE_1_PAC  in ELF GNU program properties       in the AArch64 ELF linker.
    * Add -z force-bti for AArch64 to enable GNU_PROPERTY_AARCH64_FEATURE_1_BTI       on output while warning about missing GNU_PROPERTY_AARCH64_FEATURE_1_BTI       on inputs and use PLTs protected with BTI.
    * Add -z pac-plt for AArch64 to pick PAC enabled PLTs.
    * Add --source-comment[=<txt>] option to objdump which if present,       provides a prefix to source code lines displayed in a disassembly.
    * Add --set-section-alignment <section-name>=<power-of-2-align>       option to objcopy to allow the changing of section alignments.
    * Add --verilog-data-width option to objcopy for verilog targets to       control width of data elements in verilog hex format.
    * The separate debug info file options of readelf (--debug-dump=links       and --debug-dump=follow) and objdump (--dwarf=links and
      --dwarf=follow-links) will now display and/or follow multiple       links if more than one are present in a file.  (This usually       happens when gcc's -gsplit-dwarf option is used).
      In addition objdump's --dwarf=follow-links now also affects its       other display options, so that for example, when combined with
      --syms it will cause the symbol tables in any linked debug info       files to also be displayed.  In addition when combined with
      --disassemble the --dwarf= follow-links option will ensure that       any symbol tables in the linked files are read and used when       disassembling code in the main file.
    * Add support for dumping types encoded in the Compact Type Format       to objdump and readelf.

    The following security fixes are addressed by the update:

    - CVE-2021-20197: Fixed a race condition which allows users to own arbitrary files (bsc#1181452).
    - CVE-2021-20284: Fixed a heap-based buffer overflow in _bfd_elf_slurp_secondary_reloc_section in elf.c     (bsc#1183511).
    - CVE-2021-3487: Fixed a denial of service via excessive debug section size causing excessive memory     consumption in bfd's dwarf2.c read_section() (bsc#1184620).
    - CVE-2020-35448: Fixed a heap-based buffer over-read in bfd_getl_signed_32() in libbfd.c (bsc#1184794).
    - CVE-2020-16590: Fixed a double free vulnerability in process_symbol_table() (bsc#1179898).
    - CVE-2020-16591: Fixed an invalid read in process_symbol_table() (bsc#1179899).
    - CVE-2020-16592: Fixed an use-after-free in bfd_hash_lookup() (bsc#1179900).
    - CVE-2020-16593: Fixed a null pointer dereference in scan_unit_for_symbols() (bsc#1179901).
    - CVE-2020-16598: Fixed a null pointer dereference in debug_get_real_type() (bsc#1179902).
    - CVE-2020-16599: Fixed a null pointer dereference in _bfd_elf_get_symbol_version_string() (bsc#1179903)
    - CVE-2020-35493: Fixed heap-based buffer overflow in bfd_pef_parse_function_stubs function in bfd/pef.c     via crafted PEF file (bsc#1180451).
    - CVE-2020-35496: Fixed multiple null pointer dereferences in bfd module due to not checking return value     of bfd_malloc (bsc#1180454).
    - CVE-2020-35507: Fixed a null pointer dereference in bfd_pef_parse_function_stubs() (bsc#1180461).
    - CVE-2019-17451: Fixed an integer overflow leading to a SEGV in _bfd_dwarf2_find_nearest_line() in     dwarf2.c (bsc#1153768).
    - CVE-2019-17450: Fixed a potential denial of service in find_abstract_instance() in dwarf2.c     (bsc#1153770).
    - CVE-2019-9077: Fixed a heap-based buffer overflow in process_mips_specific() in readelf.c via a     malformed MIPS option section (bsc#1126826).
    - CVE-2019-9075: Fixed a heap-based buffer overflow in _bfd_archive_64_bit_slurp_armap() in archive64.c     (bsc#1126829).
    - CVE-2019-9074: Fixed a out-of-bounds read leading to a SEGV in bfd_getl32() in libbfd.c (bsc#1126831).
    - CVE-2019-12972: Fixed a heap-based buffer over-read in _bfd_doprnt() in bfd.c (bsc#1140126).
    - CVE-2019-14444: Fixed an integer overflow apply_relocations() in readelf.c (bsc#1143609).
    - CVE-2019-14250: Fixed an integer overflow in simple_object_elf_match() in simple-object-elf.c     (bsc#1142649).

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

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

The remote SUSE Linux SLES15 / SLES_SAP15 host has packages installed that are affected by multiple vulnerabilities as referenced in the SUSE-SU-2022:0934-1 advisory.

    - For compatibility on old code stream that expect 'brcl 0,label' to       not be disassembled as 'jgnop label' on s390x.  (bsc#1192267)       This reverts IBM zSeries HLASM support for now.
    - Fixed that ppc64 optflags did not enable LTO (bsc#1188941).
    - Fix empty man-pages from broken release tarball
    - Fixed a memory corruption with rpath option (bsc#1191473).
    - Fixed slow performance of stripping some binaries (bsc#1183909).


    Update to binutils 2.37:

    * The GNU Binutils sources now requires a C99 compiler and library to       build.
    * Support for Realm Management Extension (RME) for AArch64 has been       added.
    * A new linker option '-z report-relative-reloc' for x86 ELF targets       has been added to report dynamic relative relocations.
    * A new linker option '-z start-stop-gc' has been added to disable       special treatment of __start_*/__stop_* references when
      --gc-sections.
    * A new linker options '-Bno-symbolic' has been added which will       cancel the '-Bsymbolic' and '-Bsymbolic-functions' options.
    * The readelf tool has a new command line option which can be used to       specify how the numeric values of symbols are reported.
      --sym-base=0|8|10|16 tells readelf to display the values in base 8,       base 10 or base 16.  A sym base of 0 represents the default action       of displaying values under 10000 in base 10 and values above that in       base 16.
    * A new format has been added to the nm program.  Specifying       '--format=just-symbols' (or just using -j) will tell the program to       only display symbol names and nothing else.
    * A new command line option '--keep-section-symbols' has been added to       objcopy and strip.  This stops the removal of unused section symbols       when the file is copied.  Removing these symbols saves space, but       sometimes they are needed by other tools.
    * The '--weaken', '--weaken-symbol' and '--weaken-symbols' options       supported by objcopy now make undefined symbols weak on targets that       support weak symbols.
    * Readelf and objdump can now display and use the contents of .debug_sup       sections.
    * Readelf and objdump will now follow links to separate debug info       files by default.  This behaviour can be stopped via the use of the       new '-wN' or '--debug-dump=no-follow-links' options for readelf and       the '-WN' or '--dwarf=no-follow-links' options for objdump.  Also       the old behaviour can be restored by the use of the       '--enable-follow-debug-links=no' configure time option.

      The semantics of the =follow-links option have also been slightly       changed.  When enabled, the option allows for the loading of symbol       tables and string tables from the separate files which can be used       to enhance the information displayed when dumping other sections,       but it does not automatically imply that information from the       separate files should be displayed.

      If other debug section display options are also enabled (eg       '--debug-dump=info') then the contents of matching sections in both       the main file and the separate debuginfo file *will* be displayed.
      This is because in most cases the debug section will only be present       in one of the files.

      If however non-debug section display options are enabled (eg       '--sections') then the contents of matching parts of the separate       debuginfo file will *not* be displayed.  This is because in most       cases the user probably only wanted to load the symbol information       from the separate debuginfo file.  In order to change this behaviour       a new command line option --process-links can be used.  This will       allow di0pslay options to applied to both the main file and any       separate debuginfo files.

    * Nm has a new command line option: '--quiet'.  This suppresses 'no       symbols' diagnostic.

    Update to binutils 2.36:

    New features in the Assembler:

    - General:

       * When setting the link order attribute of ELF sections, it is now          possible to use a numeric section index instead of symbol name.
       * Added a .nop directive to generate a single no-op instruction in          a target neutral manner.  This instruction does have an effect on          DWARF line number generation, if that is active.
       * Removed --reduce-memory-overheads and --hash-size as gas now          uses hash tables that can be expand and shrink automatically.

    - X86/x86_64:

       * Add support for AVX VNNI, HRESET, UINTR, TDX, AMX and Key          Locker instructions.
       * Support non-absolute segment values for lcall and ljmp.
       * Add {disp16} pseudo prefix to x86 assembler.
       * Configure with --enable-x86-used-note by default for Linux/x86.

    -  ARM/AArch64:

       * Add support for Cortex-A78, Cortex-A78AE and Cortex-X1,          Cortex-R82, Neoverse V1, and Neoverse N2 cores.
       * Add support for ETMv4 (Embedded Trace Macrocell), ETE (Embedded          Trace Extension), TRBE (Trace Buffer Extension), CSRE (Call          Stack Recorder Extension) and BRBE (Branch Record Buffer          Extension) system registers.
       * Add support for Armv8-R and Armv8.7-A ISA extensions.
       * Add support for DSB memory nXS barrier, WFET and WFIT          instruction for Armv8.7.
       * Add support for +csre feature for -march. Add CSR PDEC          instruction for CSRE feature in AArch64.
       * Add support for +flagm feature for -march in Armv8.4 AArch64.
       * Add support for +ls64 feature for -march in Armv8.7          AArch64. Add atomic 64-byte load/store instructions for this          feature.
       * Add support for +pauth (Pointer Authentication) feature for
         -march in AArch64.

    New features in the Linker:

      * Add --error-handling-script=<NAME> command line option to allow         a helper script to be invoked when an undefined symbol or a         missing library is encountered.  This option can be suppressed         via the configure time switch: --enable-error-handling-script=no.
      * Add -z x86-64-{baseline|v[234]} to the x86 ELF linker to mark         x86-64-{baseline|v[234]} ISA level as needed.
      * Add -z unique-symbol to avoid duplicated local symbol names.
      * The creation of PE format DLLs now defaults to using a more         secure set of DLL characteristics.
      * The linker now deduplicates the types in .ctf sections.  The new          command-line option --ctf-share-types describes how to do this:
         its default value, share-unconflicted, produces the most compact          output.
      * The linker now omits the 'variable section' from .ctf sections         by default, saving space.  This is almost certainly what you         want unless you are working on a project that has its own         analogue of symbol tables that are not reflected in the ELF         symtabs.

    New features in other binary tools:

      * The ar tool's previously unused l modifier is now used for         specifying dependencies of a static library. The arguments of         this option (or --record-libdeps long form option) will be         stored verbatim in the __.LIBDEP member of the archive, which         the linker may read at link time.
      * Readelf can now display the contents of LTO symbol table         sections when asked to do so via the --lto-syms command line         option.
      * Readelf now accepts the -C command line option to enable the         demangling of symbol names.  In addition the --demangle=<style>,
        --no-demangle, --recurse-limit and --no-recurse-limit options         are also now availale.

    The following security fixes are addressed by the update:

    - CVE-2021-20197: Fixed a race condition which allows users to own arbitrary files (bsc#1181452).
    - CVE-2021-20284: Fixed a heap-based buffer overflow in _bfd_elf_slurp_secondary_reloc_section in elf.c     (bsc#1183511).
    - CVE-2021-3487: Fixed a denial of service via excessive debug section size causing excessive memory     consumption in bfd's dwarf2.c read_section() (bsc#1184620).
    - CVE-2020-35448: Fixed a heap-based buffer over-read in bfd_getl_signed_32() in libbfd.c (bsc#1184794).
    - CVE-2020-16590: Fixed a double free vulnerability in process_symbol_table() (bsc#1179898).
    - CVE-2020-16591: Fixed an invalid read in process_symbol_table() (bsc#1179899).
    - CVE-2020-16592: Fixed an use-after-free in bfd_hash_lookup() (bsc#1179900).
    - CVE-2020-16593: Fixed a null pointer dereference in scan_unit_for_symbols() (bsc#1179901).
    - CVE-2020-16598: Fixed a null pointer dereference in debug_get_real_type() (bsc#1179902).
    - CVE-2020-16599: Fixed a null pointer dereference in _bfd_elf_get_symbol_version_string() (bsc#1179903)
    - CVE-2020-35493: Fixed heap-based buffer overflow in bfd_pef_parse_function_stubs function in bfd/pef.c     via crafted PEF file (bsc#1180451).
    - CVE-2020-35496: Fixed multiple null pointer dereferences in bfd module due to not checking return value     of bfd_malloc (bsc#1180454).
    - CVE-2020-35507: Fixed a null pointer dereference in bfd_pef_parse_function_stubs() (bsc#1180461).
    - CVE-2021-20294: Fixed out-of-bounds write in print_dynamic_symbol in readelf (bnc#1184519)

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

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

An update of the gdb package has been released.

The remote SUSE Linux SUSE15 host has packages installed that are affected by multiple vulnerabilities as referenced in the openSUSE-SU-2021:1475-1 advisory.

  - A double free vulnerability exists in the Binary File Descriptor (BFD) (aka libbrd) in GNU Binutils 2.35     in the process_symbol_table, as demonstrated in readelf, via a crafted file. (CVE-2020-16590)

  - A Denial of Service vulnerability exists in the Binary File Descriptor (BFD) in GNU Binutils 2.35 due to     an invalid read in process_symbol_table, as demonstrated in readeif. (CVE-2020-16591)

  - A use after free issue exists in the Binary File Descriptor (BFD) library (aka libbfd) in GNU Binutils     2.34 in bfd_hash_lookup, as demonstrated in nm-new, that can cause a denial of service via a crafted file.
    (CVE-2020-16592)

  - A Null Pointer Dereference vulnerability exists in the Binary File Descriptor (BFD) library (aka libbfd),     as distributed in GNU Binutils 2.35, in scan_unit_for_symbols, as demonstrated in addr2line, that can     cause a denial of service via a crafted file. (CVE-2020-16593)

  - ** REJECT ** DO NOT USE THIS CANDIDATE NUMBER. ConsultIDs: none. Reason: This candidate was withdrawn by     its CNA. Further investigation showed that it was not a security issue. Notes: none. (CVE-2020-16598)

  - A Null Pointer Dereference vulnerability exists in the Binary File Descriptor (BFD) library (aka libbfd),     as distributed in GNU Binutils 2.35, in _bfd_elf_get_symbol_version_string, as demonstrated in nm-new,     that can cause a denial of service via a crafted file. (CVE-2020-16599)

  - An issue was discovered in the Binary File Descriptor (BFD) library (aka libbfd), as distributed in GNU     Binutils 2.35.1. A heap-based buffer over-read can occur in bfd_getl_signed_32 in libbfd.c because     sh_entsize is not validated in _bfd_elf_slurp_secondary_reloc_section in elf.c. (CVE-2020-35448)

  - A flaw exists in binutils in bfd/pef.c. An attacker who is able to submit a crafted PEF file to be parsed     by objdump could cause a heap buffer overflow -> out-of-bounds read that could lead to an impact to     application availability. This flaw affects binutils versions prior to 2.34. (CVE-2020-35493)

  - There's a flaw in bfd_pef_scan_start_address() of bfd/pef.c in binutils which could allow an attacker who     is able to submit a crafted file to be processed by objdump to cause a NULL pointer dereference. The     greatest threat of this flaw is to application availability. This flaw affects binutils versions prior to     2.34. (CVE-2020-35496)

  - There's a flaw in bfd_pef_parse_function_stubs of bfd/pef.c in binutils in versions prior to 2.34 which     could allow an attacker who is able to submit a crafted file to be processed by objdump to cause a NULL     pointer dereference. The greatest threat of this flaw is to application availability. (CVE-2020-35507)

  - There is an open race window when writing output in the following utilities in GNU binutils version 2.35     and earlier:ar, objcopy, strip, ranlib. When these utilities are run as a privileged user (presumably as     part of a script updating binaries across different users), an unprivileged user can trick these utilities     into getting ownership of arbitrary files through a symlink. (CVE-2021-20197)

  - A flaw was found in GNU Binutils 2.35.1, where there is a heap-based buffer overflow in
    _bfd_elf_slurp_secondary_reloc_section in elf.c due to the number of symbols not calculated correctly. The     highest threat from this vulnerability is to system availability. (CVE-2021-20284)

  - A flaw was found in binutils readelf 2.35 program. An attacker who is able to convince a victim using     readelf to read a crafted file could trigger a stack buffer overflow, out-of-bounds write of arbitrary     data supplied by the attacker. The highest impact of this flaw is to confidentiality, integrity, and     availability. (CVE-2021-20294)

  - There's a flaw in the BFD library of binutils in versions before 2.36. An attacker who supplies a crafted     file to an application linked with BFD, and using the DWARF functionality, could cause an impact to system     availability by way of excessive memory consumption. (CVE-2021-3487)

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 / SLES15 / SLES_SAP15 host has packages installed that are affected by multiple vulnerabilities as referenced in the SUSE-SU-2021:3616-1 advisory.

    Update to binutils 2.37:

    * The GNU Binutils sources now requires a C99 compiler and library to       build.
    * Support for Realm Management Extension (RME) for AArch64 has been       added.
    * A new linker option '-z report-relative-reloc' for x86 ELF targets       has been added to report dynamic relative relocations.
    * A new linker option '-z start-stop-gc' has been added to disable       special treatment of __start_*/__stop_* references when
      --gc-sections.
    * A new linker options '-Bno-symbolic' has been added which will       cancel the '-Bsymbolic' and '-Bsymbolic-functions' options.
    * The readelf tool has a new command line option which can be used to       specify how the numeric values of symbols are reported.
      --sym-base=0|8|10|16 tells readelf to display the values in base 8,       base 10 or base 16.  A sym base of 0 represents the default action       of displaying values under 10000 in base 10 and values above that in       base 16.
    * A new format has been added to the nm program.  Specifying       '--format=just-symbols' (or just using -j) will tell the program to       only display symbol names and nothing else.
    * A new command line option '--keep-section-symbols' has been added to       objcopy and strip.  This stops the removal of unused section symbols       when the file is copied.  Removing these symbols saves space, but       sometimes they are needed by other tools.
    * The '--weaken', '--weaken-symbol' and '--weaken-symbols' options       supported by objcopy now make undefined symbols weak on targets that       support weak symbols.
    * Readelf and objdump can now display and use the contents of .debug_sup       sections.
    * Readelf and objdump will now follow links to separate debug info       files by default.  This behaviour can be stopped via the use of the       new '-wN' or '--debug-dump=no-follow-links' options for readelf and       the '-WN' or '--dwarf=no-follow-links' options for objdump.  Also       the old behaviour can be restored by the use of the       '--enable-follow-debug-links=no' configure time option.

      The semantics of the =follow-links option have also been slightly       changed.  When enabled, the option allows for the loading of symbol       tables and string tables from the separate files which can be used       to enhance the information displayed when dumping other sections,       but it does not automatically imply that information from the       separate files should be displayed.

      If other debug section display options are also enabled (eg       '--debug-dump=info') then the contents of matching sections in both       the main file and the separate debuginfo file *will* be displayed.
      This is because in most cases the debug section will only be present       in one of the files.

      If however non-debug section display options are enabled (eg       '--sections') then the contents of matching parts of the separate       debuginfo file will *not* be displayed.  This is because in most       cases the user probably only wanted to load the symbol information       from the separate debuginfo file.  In order to change this behaviour       a new command line option --process-links can be used.  This will       allow di0pslay options to applied to both the main file and any       separate debuginfo files.

    * Nm has a new command line option: '--quiet'.  This suppresses 'no       symbols' diagnostic.

    Update to binutils 2.36:

    New features in the Assembler:

    - General:

       * When setting the link order attribute of ELF sections, it is now          possible to use a numeric section index instead of symbol name.
       * Added a .nop directive to generate a single no-op instruction in          a target neutral manner.  This instruction does have an effect on          DWARF line number generation, if that is active.
       * Removed --reduce-memory-overheads and --hash-size as gas now          uses hash tables that can be expand and shrink automatically.

    - X86/x86_64:

       * Add support for AVX VNNI, HRESET, UINTR, TDX, AMX and Key          Locker instructions.
       * Support non-absolute segment values for lcall and ljmp.
       * Add {disp16} pseudo prefix to x86 assembler.
       * Configure with --enable-x86-used-note by default for Linux/x86.

    -  ARM/AArch64:

       * Add support for Cortex-A78, Cortex-A78AE and Cortex-X1,          Cortex-R82, Neoverse V1, and Neoverse N2 cores.
       * Add support for ETMv4 (Embedded Trace Macrocell), ETE (Embedded          Trace Extension), TRBE (Trace Buffer Extension), CSRE (Call          Stack Recorder Extension) and BRBE (Branch Record Buffer          Extension) system registers.
       * Add support for Armv8-R and Armv8.7-A ISA extensions.
       * Add support for DSB memory nXS barrier, WFET and WFIT          instruction for Armv8.7.
       * Add support for +csre feature for -march. Add CSR PDEC          instruction for CSRE feature in AArch64.
       * Add support for +flagm feature for -march in Armv8.4 AArch64.
       * Add support for +ls64 feature for -march in Armv8.7          AArch64. Add atomic 64-byte load/store instructions for this          feature.
       * Add support for +pauth (Pointer Authentication) feature for
         -march in AArch64.

    New features in the Linker:

      * Add --error-handling-script=<NAME> command line option to allow         a helper script to be invoked when an undefined symbol or a         missing library is encountered.  This option can be suppressed         via the configure time switch: --enable-error-handling-script=no.
      * Add -z x86-64-{baseline|v[234]} to the x86 ELF linker to mark         x86-64-{baseline|v[234]} ISA level as needed.
      * Add -z unique-symbol to avoid duplicated local symbol names.
      * The creation of PE format DLLs now defaults to using a more         secure set of DLL characteristics.
      * The linker now deduplicates the types in .ctf sections.  The new          command-line option --ctf-share-types describes how to do this:
         its default value, share-unconflicted, produces the most compact          output.
      * The linker now omits the 'variable section' from .ctf sections         by default, saving space.  This is almost certainly what you         want unless you are working on a project that has its own         analogue of symbol tables that are not reflected in the ELF         symtabs.

    New features in other binary tools:

      * The ar tool's previously unused l modifier is now used for         specifying dependencies of a static library. The arguments of         this option (or --record-libdeps long form option) will be         stored verbatim in the __.LIBDEP member of the archive, which         the linker may read at link time.
      * Readelf can now display the contents of LTO symbol table         sections when asked to do so via the --lto-syms command line         option.
      * Readelf now accepts the -C command line option to enable the         demangling of symbol names.  In addition the --demangle=<style>,
        --no-demangle, --recurse-limit and --no-recurse-limit options         are also now availale.

    The following security fixes are addressed by the update:

    - CVE-2021-20197: Fixed a race condition which allows users to own arbitrary files (bsc#1181452).
    - CVE-2021-20284: Fixed a heap-based buffer overflow in _bfd_elf_slurp_secondary_reloc_section in elf.c     (bsc#1183511).
    - CVE-2021-3487: Fixed a denial of service via excessive debug section size causing excessive memory     consumption in bfd's dwarf2.c read_section() (bsc#1184620).
    - CVE-2020-35448: Fixed a heap-based buffer over-read in bfd_getl_signed_32() in libbfd.c (bsc#1184794).
    - CVE-2020-16590: Fixed a double free vulnerability in process_symbol_table() (bsc#1179898).
    - CVE-2020-16591: Fixed an invalid read in process_symbol_table() (bsc#1179899).
    - CVE-2020-16592: Fixed an use-after-free in bfd_hash_lookup() (bsc#1179900).
    - CVE-2020-16593: Fixed a null pointer dereference in scan_unit_for_symbols() (bsc#1179901).
    - CVE-2020-16598: Fixed a null pointer dereference in debug_get_real_type() (bsc#1179902).
    - CVE-2020-16599: Fixed a null pointer dereference in _bfd_elf_get_symbol_version_string() (bsc#1179903)
    - CVE-2020-35493: Fixed heap-based buffer overflow in bfd_pef_parse_function_stubs function in bfd/pef.c     via crafted PEF file (bsc#1180451).
    - CVE-2020-35496: Fixed multiple null pointer dereferences in bfd module due to not checking return value     of bfd_malloc (bsc#1180454).
    - CVE-2020-35507: Fixed a null pointer dereference in bfd_pef_parse_function_stubs() (bsc#1180461).

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

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

The remote SUSE Linux SUSE15 host has packages installed that are affected by multiple vulnerabilities as referenced in the openSUSE-SU-2021:3616-1 advisory.

  - A double free vulnerability exists in the Binary File Descriptor (BFD) (aka libbrd) in GNU Binutils 2.35     in the process_symbol_table, as demonstrated in readelf, via a crafted file. (CVE-2020-16590)

  - A Denial of Service vulnerability exists in the Binary File Descriptor (BFD) in GNU Binutils 2.35 due to     an invalid read in process_symbol_table, as demonstrated in readeif. (CVE-2020-16591)

  - A use after free issue exists in the Binary File Descriptor (BFD) library (aka libbfd) in GNU Binutils     2.34 in bfd_hash_lookup, as demonstrated in nm-new, that can cause a denial of service via a crafted file.
    (CVE-2020-16592)

  - A Null Pointer Dereference vulnerability exists in the Binary File Descriptor (BFD) library (aka libbfd),     as distributed in GNU Binutils 2.35, in scan_unit_for_symbols, as demonstrated in addr2line, that can     cause a denial of service via a crafted file. (CVE-2020-16593)

  - ** REJECT ** DO NOT USE THIS CANDIDATE NUMBER. ConsultIDs: none. Reason: This candidate was withdrawn by     its CNA. Further investigation showed that it was not a security issue. Notes: none. (CVE-2020-16598)

  - A Null Pointer Dereference vulnerability exists in the Binary File Descriptor (BFD) library (aka libbfd),     as distributed in GNU Binutils 2.35, in _bfd_elf_get_symbol_version_string, as demonstrated in nm-new,     that can cause a denial of service via a crafted file. (CVE-2020-16599)

  - An issue was discovered in the Binary File Descriptor (BFD) library (aka libbfd), as distributed in GNU     Binutils 2.35.1. A heap-based buffer over-read can occur in bfd_getl_signed_32 in libbfd.c because     sh_entsize is not validated in _bfd_elf_slurp_secondary_reloc_section in elf.c. (CVE-2020-35448)

  - A flaw exists in binutils in bfd/pef.c. An attacker who is able to submit a crafted PEF file to be parsed     by objdump could cause a heap buffer overflow -> out-of-bounds read that could lead to an impact to     application availability. This flaw affects binutils versions prior to 2.34. (CVE-2020-35493)

  - There's a flaw in bfd_pef_scan_start_address() of bfd/pef.c in binutils which could allow an attacker who     is able to submit a crafted file to be processed by objdump to cause a NULL pointer dereference. The     greatest threat of this flaw is to application availability. This flaw affects binutils versions prior to     2.34. (CVE-2020-35496)

  - There's a flaw in bfd_pef_parse_function_stubs of bfd/pef.c in binutils in versions prior to 2.34 which     could allow an attacker who is able to submit a crafted file to be processed by objdump to cause a NULL     pointer dereference. The greatest threat of this flaw is to application availability. (CVE-2020-35507)

  - There is an open race window when writing output in the following utilities in GNU binutils version 2.35     and earlier:ar, objcopy, strip, ranlib. When these utilities are run as a privileged user (presumably as     part of a script updating binaries across different users), an unprivileged user can trick these utilities     into getting ownership of arbitrary files through a symlink. (CVE-2021-20197)

  - A flaw was found in GNU Binutils 2.35.1, where there is a heap-based buffer overflow in
    _bfd_elf_slurp_secondary_reloc_section in elf.c due to the number of symbols not calculated correctly. The     highest threat from this vulnerability is to system availability. (CVE-2021-20284)

  - There's a flaw in the BFD library of binutils in versions before 2.36. An attacker who supplies a crafted     file to an application linked with BFD, and using the DWARF functionality, could cause an impact to system     availability by way of excessive memory consumption. (CVE-2021-3487)

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	Published	Updated	Severity
149287	Photon OS 4.0: Binutils PHSA-2021-4.0-0017	Nessus	PhotonOS Local Security Checks	5/5/2021	8/22/2025	medium
233318	Photon OS 5.0: Binutils PHSA-2025-5.0-0488	Nessus	PhotonOS Local Security Checks	3/25/2025	4/2/2025	medium
154861	SUSE SLED12 / SLES12 Security Update : binutils (SUSE-SU-2021:3593-1)	Nessus	SuSE Local Security Checks	11/3/2021	9/24/2025	high
159175	SUSE SLES15 Security Update : binutils (SUSE-SU-2022:0934-1)	Nessus	SuSE Local Security Checks	3/23/2022	9/24/2025	high
204288	Photon OS 4.0: Gdb PHSA-2023-4.0-0440	Nessus	PhotonOS Local Security Checks	7/24/2024	7/24/2024	high
155362	openSUSE 15 Security Update : binutils (openSUSE-SU-2021:1475-1)	Nessus	SuSE Local Security Checks	11/16/2021	11/23/2023	high
154921	SUSE SLED15 / SLES15 Security Update : binutils (SUSE-SU-2021:3616-1)	Nessus	SuSE Local Security Checks	11/5/2021	9/24/2025	medium
204554	Photon OS 5.0: Gdb PHSA-2023-5.0-0060	Nessus	PhotonOS Local Security Checks	7/24/2024	7/24/2024	critical
154898	openSUSE 15 Security Update : binutils (openSUSE-SU-2021:3616-1)	Nessus	SuSE Local Security Checks	11/5/2021	11/27/2023	medium

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