CyberSecBulletin
CVE-2025-71316NVD status: Awaiting Analysis

sqldiff: Improper Handling of Unicode Encoding

Published Updated By the CyberSecBulletin desk

CVE-2025-71316 is a critical-severity improper handling of unicode encoding vulnerability in sqldiff from SQLite, with a CVSS 3.1 base score of 9.8 out of 10. It can be exploited remotely over the network by an unauthenticated attacker, without any action from a user. The record lists version 2025-12-26 as the first without the flaw, so updating sqldiff to that release or later removes the exposure. There is no confirmed exploitation so far. EPSS estimates a 0.54% chance of exploitation within 30 days, which is low compared with other CVEs.

Patch this week

Critical severity: a successful attack would have severe impact.

What to do

  1. Update sqldiff to 2025-12-26 or a later version.
  2. Update RUGGEDCOM CROSSBOW Station Access Controller (SAC) to V6.0 or a later version.
  3. Until you can update, restrict network access to the affected service so it is not reachable from untrusted networks.

Affected products and versions

VendorProductAffected versionsFixed in
SQLitesqldiffbefore 2025-12-262025-12-26
SiemensRUGGEDCOM CROSSBOW Station Access Controller (SAC)before V6.0V6.0

Version data comes from the organisation that assigned the CVE. Confirm against the vendor advisory before deciding you are unaffected.

How the severity score breaks down

Attack vector
NetworkCan be exploited remotely over a network, including the internet.
Attack complexity
LowNo special conditions are needed; the attack works reliably.
Privileges required
NoneNo account or login is needed.
User interaction
NoneNo action by a victim is required.
Scope
UnchangedImpact stays within the vulnerable component.
Confidentiality
HighAll data handled by the component can be read.
Integrity
HighData or code can be modified at will.
Availability
HighThe component can be taken down completely.

Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H. Scored by CNA.

Scoring systemScoreSeverityScored by
CVSS 4.09.2CriticalCNA
CVSS 3.19.8CriticalCNA

Official description

SQLite 'sqldiff.exe' does not securely handle the way the Microsoft Windows C runtime converts Unicode characters to ANSI codepages. An attacker could use the '-L' option to load an arbitrary DLL with a crafted command line argument string that results in command line file arguments being misinterpreted as command line options. Fixed on or around 2025-12-26.

Source: the CVE record as published by its numbering authority, via NVD and CVE.org.

The underlying weakness: Improper Handling of Unicode Encoding

The product does not properly handle when an input contains Unicode encoding.

How developers prevent this class of flaw

  • Avoid making decisions based on names of resources (e.g. files) if those resources can have alternate names.
  • Inputs should be decoded and canonicalized to the application's current internal representation before being validated (CWE-180). Make sure that the application does not decode the same input twice (CWE-174). Such errors could be used to bypass allowlist validation schemes by introducing dangerous inputs after they have been checked.

More Improper Handling of Unicode Encoding vulnerabilities (CWE-176)

Timeline

  1. CVE record published.
  2. CISA published its SSVC assessment (exploitation: none, automatable: yes, technical impact: total).
  3. Record last changed materially (score, affected products, status or references).

References

Recent Improper Handling of Unicode Encoding vulnerabilities

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