CVE-2026-18220
HighCVSS 7.8Exploitation Probability (EPSS)
Low risk8th percentile - higher than 8% of all known CVEs
Summary
In the BFD library of GNU binutils, the DLX ELF backend's dlx_rtype_to_howto() function lacks bounds checking, allowing out-of-bounds write. A crafted ELF/DLX file can lead to arbitrary code execution.
Risk Assessment
An attacker can remotely execute code on developer workstations or CI/CD systems processing malicious binaries.
Recommendation
Update GNU binutils to a patched version or disable the DLX backend (--disable-targets).
Other vulnerabilities in GNU binutils
See all- CVE-2017-17126High
The load_debug_section function in readelf.c in GNU Binutils 2.29.1 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (invalid memory access and application crash) or possibly have unspecified other impact via an ELF file that lacks section headers.
- CVE-2017-17125High
GNU Binutils 2.29.1 has a mishandling issue with certain global symbols in nm.c and objdump.c, which can lead to application crashes or denial of service.
- CVE-2017-17124High
The _bfd_coff_read_string_table function in the BFD library (libbfd) in GNU Binutils 2.29.1 does not properly validate the size of the external string table, which can lead to denial of service or buffer overflow.
- CVE-2017-17122High
The dump_relocs_in_section function in objdump.c in GNU Binutils 2.29.1 does not check for reloc count integer overflows, which can lead to denial of service or heap-based buffer overflow.
- CVE-2017-17121High
The Binary File Descriptor (BFD) library in GNU Binutils 2.29.1 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (memory access violation) or possibly have unspecified other impact via a COFF binary in which a relocation refers to a location after the end of the to-be-relocated section.
- CVE-2017-16832High
The pe_bfd_read_buildid function in the Binary File Descriptor (BFD) library in GNU Binutils 2.29.1 does not validate size and offset values in the data dictionary, allowing remote attackers to cause a denial of service (segmentation violation and application crash) or possibly have unspecified other impact via a crafted PE file.
- CVE-2017-16830High
The print_gnu_property_note function in readelf.c in GNU Binutils 2.29.1 lacks integer-overflow protection on 32-bit platforms, allowing remote attackers to cause a denial of service (segmentation violation and application crash) or possibly have unspecified other impact via a crafted ELF file.
- CVE-2017-16829High
The _bfd_elf_parse_gnu_properties function in the Binary File Descriptor (BFD) library in GNU Binutils 2.29.1 does not prevent negative pointers, which may lead to application crashes or other unspecified impacts via a crafted ELF file.
- CVE-2017-16828High
The display_debug_frames function in dwarf.c in GNU Binutils 2.29.1 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service through integer overflow and heap-based buffer over-read, potentially leading to application crashes.
- CVE-2017-16827High
The aout_get_external_symbols function in the Binary File Descriptor (BFD) library in GNU Binutils 2.29.1 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service via a crafted ELF file, potentially leading to application crashes.
Original NVD description (English source)
An out-of-bounds write vulnerability was found in the BFD library's DLX ELF backend (bfd/elf32-dlx.c) in GNU binutils. The dlx_rtype_to_howto() function maps ELF relocation types to internal howto structures but fails to perform adequate bounds checking on attacker-controlled relocation type values (via ELF32_R_TYPE(r_info)) before indexing into the dlx_elf_howto_table[] array. The DLX relocation type number space is non-contiguous (basic types 0-6, extended types at 0x10000+), but the default case in the switch statement allows arbitrary index values to reach the array access. A specially crafted ELF/DLX object file can trigger this out-of-bounds write when processed by any BFD-consuming tool (objdump, readelf, strip, ld, nm, objcopy). The vulnerability has been demonstrated to achieve arbitrary code execution via a File Stream Oriented Programming (FSOP) attack against glibc FILE structures (stderr), redirecting control flow to system(). Attack scenarios include CI/CD pipelines performing automated binary analysis, developer workstations running objdump/readelf on untrusted binaries, automated security scanning or malware analysis tools invoking binutils, and package build systems processing third-party code. Note: This vulnerability is only exploitable when binutils is built with the DLX backend enabled (typically via --enable-targets=all).