High severity · published Jan 12, 2026
CVE-2025-15514
Ollama Multi-Modal Model Image Processing NULL Pointer Dereference
7.5
CVSS
0.8%
EPSS
No
On KEV
Description
Ollama 0.11.5-rc0 through current version 0.13.5 contain a null pointer dereference vulnerability in the multi-modal model image processing functionality. When processing base64-encoded image data via the /api/chat endpoint, the application fails to validate that the decoded data represents valid media before passing it to the mtmd_helper_bitmap_init_from_buf function. This function can return NULL for malformed input, but the code does not check this return value before dereferencing the pointer in subsequent operations. A remote attacker can exploit this by sending specially crafted base64 image data that decodes to invalid media, causing a segmentation fault and crashing the runner process. This results in a denial of service condition where the model becomes unavailable to all users until the service is restarted.
CVSS vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High
Scope
Unchanged
Exploitation
Is it being used?
Exploit prediction (EPSS)0.8% · higher than 55% of CVEs
Exploited in the wildNo evidence yet
CISA KEVNot listed
Ransomware campaign useNot known
Affected products
Which versions
OL
Ollama · Ollama
v0.11.5-rc0 through 0.13.5 · source: vendor, NVD
RH
Red Hat OpenShift AI (RHOAI) · Red Hat
All versions, or not specified · source: CISA
References
NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-15514
CVE.org
https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2025-15514
Product
https://https://github.com/ollama/ollama
Exploit
https://huntr.com/bounties/172df98b-07cd-41ea-a628-366f8cd525c0
Product
https://ollama.com/
Third Party Advisory
https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/ollama-multi-modal-image-processing-null-pointer-dereference
access.redhat.com
https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2025-15514
bugzilla.redhat.com
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2428828
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