CVE-2025-15535
Null Pointer Dereference in Nicbarker Clay's Clay__MeasureTextCached Function
Publication date: 2026-01-18
Last updated on: 2026-04-29
Assigner: VulDB
Description
Description
CVSS Scores
EPSS Scores
| Probability: | |
| Percentile: |
Meta Information
Affected Vendors & Products
| Vendor | Product | Version / Range |
|---|---|---|
| nicbarker | clay | to 0.14 (inc) |
Helpful Resources
Exploitability
| CWE ID | Description |
|---|---|
| CWE-404 | The product does not release or incorrectly releases a resource before it is made available for re-use. |
| CWE-476 | The product dereferences a pointer that it expects to be valid but is NULL. |
Attack-Flow Graph
AI Powered Q&A
How does this vulnerability affect compliance with common standards and regulations (like GDPR, HIPAA)?:
The provided resources do not contain information regarding the impact of this vulnerability on compliance with common standards and regulations such as GDPR or HIPAA.
Can you explain this vulnerability to me?
CVE-2025-15535 is a null pointer dereference vulnerability in the nicbarker clay library (up to version 0.14), specifically in the function Clay__MeasureTextCached within clay.h. When this function processes malformed text elements, it attempts to dereference a NULL pointer without checking its validity, causing the application to crash with a segmentation fault. This issue leads to a denial of service by crashing the program during text measurement operations. [1, 2, 4]
How can this vulnerability impact me? :
This vulnerability can cause denial of service by crashing the affected application when it processes crafted malformed text elements. The crash results from a null pointer dereference leading to a segmentation fault, which disrupts availability. Exploitation requires local access, and there is no impact on confidentiality or integrity. The exploit is publicly available and considered easy to execute. [1, 2, 4]
How can this vulnerability be detected on my network or system? Can you suggest some commands?
This vulnerability can be detected by reproducing the crash using the provided test harness and malformed input file. The recommended environment includes Linux x86_64 with Clang compiler and AddressSanitizer enabled. Detection involves building the project with CMake using flags: -O3 -g -fsanitize=address -fno-omit-frame-pointer -UNDEBUG, compiling the test harness with the same sanitizer flags, and running it with the malformed input file to trigger the null pointer dereference and segmentation fault. There are no specific network detection commands since the attack requires local access and affects application runtime. Example commands include: 1) Building the project: `cmake -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release -DCMAKE_C_FLAGS='-O3 -g -fsanitize=address -fno-omit-frame-pointer -UNDEBUG' .` 2) Compiling the test harness with similar flags. 3) Running the harness with the malformed input file to observe the crash and AddressSanitizer report. [1, 4]
What immediate steps should I take to mitigate this vulnerability?
Immediate mitigation steps include restricting local access to the affected system or application to prevent exploitation, as the vulnerability requires local access. Since no official patch or fix has been provided by the maintainers, consider using alternative products or versions that do not contain this vulnerability. Monitoring for crashes related to the Clay library and avoiding processing malformed text elements can also help reduce risk. Applying strict access controls and limiting user privileges may mitigate exploitation potential until a fix is available. [2]