Icu: stack buffer overflow in the srbroot::addtag function (CVE-2025-5222)
Published Last modified Sources: Red Hat, Siemens ProductCERT, BSI, Debian LTS, Debian, CVE.org, Msrc Update Guide
What is affected, what to do
A stack buffer overflow was found in Internationl components for unicode (ICU ). While running the genrb binary, the 'subtag' struct overflowed at the SRBRoot::addTag function.
Update Icu to version 78.1, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 to version 0:74.2-5.el10_0, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 to version 0:67.1-10.el9_6.
- Affected
- Icu
lt *..78.1 - Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10
lt *..0:74.2-5.el10_0 - Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9
lt *..0:67.1-10.el9_6 - Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9.0 Update Services for SAP Solutions
lt *..0:67.1-10.el9_0 - Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9.2 Update Services for SAP Solutions
lt *..0:67.1-10.el9_2 - Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9.4 Extended Update Support
lt *..0:67.1-10.el9_4 - Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.13
lt *..413.92.202609080414-0 - Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.14
lt *..414.92.202608172040-0 - Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.15
lt *..415.92.202608180329-0 - Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.16
lt *..416.94.202608150307-0 - Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.17
lt *..417.94.202608250221-0 - Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.18
lt *..418.94.202608111829-0 - Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.19
lt *..4.19.9.6.202608120446-0 - Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.20
lt *..4.20.9.6.202608121719-0
- Icu
- Fixed in
- Icu
78.1 - Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10
0:74.2-5.el10_0 - Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9
0:67.1-10.el9_6 - Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9.0 Update Services for SAP Solutions
0:67.1-10.el9_0 - Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9.2 Update Services for SAP Solutions
0:67.1-10.el9_2 - Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9.4 Extended Update Support
0:67.1-10.el9_4 - Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.13
413.92.202609080414-0 - Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.14
414.92.202608172040-0 - Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.15
415.92.202608180329-0 - Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.16
416.94.202608150307-0 - Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.17
417.94.202608250221-0 - Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.18
418.94.202608111829-0 - Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.19
4.19.9.6.202608120446-0 - Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.20
4.20.9.6.202608121719-0
- Icu
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Metrics
7.0
Priority
XIEM Effective CVSS: highest available CVSS rating from NVD and vendor data.
Source: NVD, CVSS v3
7.0
CVSS v3
Severity High on the scale from 0 to 10.
Source: Red Hat, Siemens ProductCERT, BSI, Debian LTS, Debian, CVE.org, Msrc Update Guide
0.4 %
EPSS score
Low — model estimates < 1% exploitation likelihood.
Source: FIRST EPSS, percentile 38.1
Show all metrics
- Severity
- High
Priority (0–325)
The priority score is a consolidated metric that condenses several individual signals into a single, action-guiding ranking: technical severity (CVSS), exploitation likelihood (EPSS), known-exploited status (KEV) and the context of the affected asset. The aim is to answer the only truly important question in vulnerability management: what first?
Read in glossary- 55.77 Methodology
Exploit maturity
An exploit is code or a technique that specifically uses a concrete vulnerability to force unintended behaviour — such as executing code or escalating privileges. It is the tool that turns a theoretical flaw into a practical attack.
Read in glossary- no public PoC known
XIEM Effective CVSS
XIEM® is the tiered managed-security operating model from NEOSEC and a registered trademark of NEOSEC GmbH. It extends classic SIEM — the central collection, normalisation and correlation of security-relevant events — with endpoint forensics, network visibility and deception technology, and consolidates them into three building tiers: Sentry, Orchestrate and Command.
Read in glossary- 7.0 Methodology
CVSS v3
CVSS is the globally established, open standard for assessing the technical severity of a vulnerability on a scale from 0 to 10. It describes how easily a flaw can be exploited and what damage it can cause — but not how likely its actual exploitation is. CVSS and the complementary EPSS deliberately answer different questions.
Read in glossary- 7.0
EPSS score
The EPSS score is the absolute model output for an individual vulnerability: the estimated probability of real-world exploitation within the next 30 days, expressed as a value between 0 and 1 (i.e. 0 % to 100 %). A score of 0.42 means „the model estimates a 42 % chance of real-world exploitation within 30 days“.
Read in glossary- 0.4 %
- Low — model estimates < 1% exploitation likelihood.
EPSS percentile
The EPSS percentile is the relative position of a vulnerability within all EPSS-scored CVEs, expressed as a value between 0 and 1. A percentile of 0.90 means „this CVE has a higher EPSS score than 90 % of all other scored CVEs“. Unlike the EPSS score, it is not a probability — but a positioning within a ranking.
Read in glossary- 38.1
- High — this CVE ranks above the median of all CVEs scored today (rank ≥ 36%).
KEV status
The KEV catalogue is a list maintained by the US authority CISA of vulnerabilities for which active exploitation in the wild has been confirmed. It answers not the question „how severe?“ but „is it already being attacked?“ — thereby sharply prioritising patching.
Read in glossary- —
- Published
- CISA assessment (SSVC)
- Exploitation: none known · not automatable · Technical impact: total
- Source: CISA Vulnrichment, as of 28 May 2025
CWE
CWE is a catalogue of typical weakness types in software and hardware — such as flawed input validation, unsafe memory handling or poor authentication. Where a CVE names a concrete vulnerability in a concrete product, a CWE describes the underlying class of defect.
Read in glossary- CWE-120
Detection rules
No NEOSEC detection rule is available for this vulnerability yet.
Classification under NIS2 and CRA
Rule-based classification from exploitation status and severity. It does not replace a case-by-case assessment.
NIS2
NIS2 is EU Directive (EU) 2022/2555 to raise the level of cybersecurity across the Union. It substantially broadens obligations compared with the first NIS directive: more sectors, mandatory risk management, staged reporting duties and personal accountability of senior management.
Read in glossary- High technical severity: assess and remediate the vulnerability in vulnerability handling under Art. 21(2)(e) NIS2 and document the decision.
CRA
The CRA is EU Regulation (EU) 2024/2847 setting horizontal cybersecurity requirements for „products with digital elements“ — from industrial controllers and software to connected consumer devices. For the first time manufacturers must ensure security across the entire product lifecycle, handle vulnerabilities and provide security updates.
Read in glossary- From 11.12.2027, Annex I Part II CRA requires manufacturers of affected products with digital elements to handle vulnerabilities without delay and provide security updates.
ISO/IEC 27001
ISO/IEC 27001 is the internationally leading standard for an information security management system (ISMS). It describes a risk-based, process-oriented framework to systematically plan, implement, review and improve information security.
Read in glossary- Control A.8.8, management of technical vulnerabilities: assess relevance to your systems, plan remediation and keep evidence.
Description
A stack buffer overflow was found in Internationl components for unicode (ICU ). While running the genrb binary, the 'subtag' struct overflowed at the SRBRoot::addTag function. This issue may lead to memory corruption and local arbitrary code execution.
Source: redhat_csaf, siemens_advisory, BSI WID Portal, BSI CSAF, Debian LTS Advisories, Debian Security Advisories, cvelistv5, NVD (NIST), Microsoft Security Update Guide
Affected products
The following versions are affected. Older releases of the same product line are also vulnerable unless stated otherwise.
| Affected versions | Fixed in | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| — | icu |
|
|
| Red Hat | Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 |
|
|
| Red Hat | Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 |
|
|
| Red Hat | Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 |
|
|
| Red Hat | Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 |
|
|
| Red Hat | Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 |
|
|
| Red Hat | Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9.0 Update Services for SAP Solutions |
|
|
| Red Hat | Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9.2 Update Services for SAP Solutions |
|
|
| Red Hat | Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9.4 Extended Update Support |
|
|
| Red Hat | Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4 |
|
|
| Red Hat | Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.13 |
|
|
| Red Hat | Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.14 |
|
|
| Red Hat | Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.15 |
|
|
| Red Hat | Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.16 |
|
|
| Red Hat | Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.17 |
|
|
| Red Hat | Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.18 |
|
|
| Red Hat | Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.19 |
|
|
| Red Hat | Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.20 |
|
|
| unicode | international_components_for_unicode |
|
|
| Dell | NetWorker |
|
|
| Dell | Secure Connect Gateway Appliance |
|
|
| Open Source | International Components for Unicode (icu) |
|
|
| Oracle | Siebel CRM |
|
|
| Red Hat | OpenShift |
|
|
Vendors and products
- Debian
- Dell Dell NetWorker
- Dell Secure Connect Gateway Appliance
- Open Source
- Oracle Siebel CRM
- Red Hat Openshift
- Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10
- Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6
- Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7
- Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8
- Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9
- Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9.0 Update Services For Sap Solutions
Affected operating systems
| Linux | debian | icu | bookworm |
| Linux | debian | icu | bullseye |
Weakness classes (CWE)
CWE-120Buffer Copy without Checking Size of Input ('Classic Buffer Overflow')
Base
The product copies an input buffer to an output buffer without verifying that the size of the input buffer is less than the size of the output buffer.
Entry at MITRE CWE-120
References & sources
- access.redhat.comRHSA-2025:11888Vendor advisory, x_refsource_REDHAT, Vendor advisory
- access.redhat.comRHSA-2025:12083Vendor advisory, x_refsource_REDHAT, Vendor advisory
- access.redhat.comRHSA-2025:12331Vendor advisory, x_refsource_REDHAT, Vendor advisory
- access.redhat.comRHSA-2025:12332Vendor advisory, x_refsource_REDHAT, Vendor advisory
- access.redhat.comRHSA-2025:12333Vendor advisory, x_refsource_REDHAT, Vendor advisory
- access.redhat.comRHSA-2026:54581Vendor advisory, x_refsource_REDHAT
- access.redhat.comsecurity/cve/CVE-2025-5222Vulnerability database, x_refsource_REDHAT, Vendor advisory
- bugzilla.redhat.comRHBZ#2368600Issue tracking, x_refsource_REDHAT, Issue tracking
- unicode-org.atlassian.netjira/software/c/projects/ICU/issues/ICU-22957
- lists.debian.orgdebian-lts-announce/2025/06/msg00015.htmlMailing list
- Siemens ProductCERTproductcert/html/ssa-585531.html
- access.redhat.comRHSA-2026:54544Vendor advisory, x_refsource_REDHAT
- access.redhat.comRHSA-2026:54553Vendor advisory, x_refsource_REDHAT
- access.redhat.comRHSA-2026:56786Vendor advisory, x_refsource_REDHAT
- access.redhat.comRHSA-2026:56853Vendor advisory, x_refsource_REDHAT
- access.redhat.comRHSA-2026:56911Vendor advisory, x_refsource_REDHAT
- access.redhat.comRHSA-2026:60019Vendor advisory, x_refsource_REDHAT
- access.redhat.comRHSA-2026:65839Vendor advisory, x_refsource_REDHAT
Changes to this CVE
Who changed this CVE and when: NVD (analysis, affected products, CVSS), the CVE publisher (CNA) and additional providers such as CISA (ADP).
Record modifiedRed Hat
1 individual change: Affected versions (publisher)
Show the original change
Individual changes of this event as published by NVD Type Action Before After Affected versions (publisher) added —Affected value modified. <a href="https://github.com/CVEProject/cvelistV5/blob/main/cves/2025/5xxx/CVE-2025-5222.json">CVE-2025-5222</a>Source identifier: secalert@redhat.com
Record modifiedRed Hat
1 individual change: Affected versions (publisher)
Show the original change
Individual changes of this event as published by NVD Type Action Before After Affected versions (publisher) added —Affected value modified. <a href="https://github.com/CVEProject/cvelistV5/blob/main/cves/2025/5xxx/CVE-2025-5222.json">CVE-2025-5222</a>Source identifier: secalert@redhat.com
Record modifiedRed Hat
New references:Show 2 original changes
Individual changes of this event as published by NVD Type Action Before After Affected versions (publisher) added —Affected value modified. <a href="https://github.com/CVEProject/cvelistV5/blob/main/cves/2025/5xxx/CVE-2025-5222.json">CVE-2025-5222</a>Reference added —https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:65839Source identifier: secalert@redhat.com
Record modifiedRed Hat
Show 4 original changes
Individual changes of this event as published by NVD Type Action Before After Affected versions (publisher) added —Affected value modified. <a href="https://github.com/CVEProject/cvelistV5/blob/main/cves/2025/5xxx/CVE-2025-5222.json">CVE-2025-5222</a>Reference added —https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:56786Reference added —https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:56853Reference added —https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:56911Source identifier: secalert@redhat.com
Record modifiedRed Hat
Show 3 original changes
Individual changes of this event as published by NVD Type Action Before After Reference added —https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:54544Reference added —https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:54553Affected versions (publisher) changed …, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 (+9)…, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 (+11)Source identifier: secalert@redhat.com
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<a href="https://intel.neosec.eu/en/cve/CVE-2025-5222"><img src="https://intel.neosec.eu/badge/cve/CVE-2025-5222.svg?lang=en" alt="CVE-2025-5222 – NEOSEC Intel" height="20"></a>