CVE-2026-6846
HighCVSS 7.8Exploitation Probability (EPSS)
Low risk7th percentile - higher than 7% of all known CVEs
Summary
A heap-buffer-overflow vulnerability was found in binutils when processing a specially crafted XCOFF object file during linking. A local attacker could trick a user into processing this malicious file, leading to arbitrary code execution or denial of service.
Risk Assessment
The risk for the organization includes potential system compromise by a local attacker, allowing unauthorized command execution or service disruption, affecting data availability and integrity.
Recommendation
It is recommended to immediately update binutils to the latest patched version and avoid processing XCOFF files from untrusted sources.
Other vulnerabilities in binutils
See all- CVE-2026-6845Medium
A flaw was found in binutils, specifically within the `readelf` utility, allowing a local attacker to cause a Denial of Service (DoS) by tricking a user into processing a specially crafted ELF file. Exploitation can lead to excessive resource consumption or a program crash, making the system unresponsive.
- CVE-2026-6844Medium
A flaw was found in the readelf utility of the binutils package. A local attacker could exploit two Denial of Service (DoS) vulnerabilities by providing a specially crafted ELF file. One vulnerability, a resource exhaustion (CWE-400), can lead to an out-of-memory condition. The other, a null pointer dereference (CWE-476), can cause a segmentation fault. Both issues can result in the readelf utility becoming unresponsive or crashing.
- CVE-2020-35507Medium
A flaw exists in bfd_pef_parse_function_stubs of bfd/pef.c in binutils versions prior to 2.34. An attacker able to submit a crafted file processed by objdump can cause a NULL pointer dereference.
- CVE-2020-35496Medium
A flaw exists in bfd_pef_scan_start_address() of bfd/pef.c in binutils. An attacker able to submit a crafted file processed by objdump can cause a NULL pointer dereference.
- CVE-2020-35495Medium
A flaw exists in binutils /bfd/pef.c. An attacker able to submit a crafted input file processed by objdump can cause a NULL pointer dereference.
- CVE-2020-35494Medium
A flaw in binutils /opcodes/tic4x-dis.c causes the use of uninitialized memory when processing a crafted input file. The highest threat is to application availability, with a lower threat to data confidentiality. The flaw affects binutils versions prior to 2.34.
- CVE-2020-35493Medium
A heap buffer overflow exists in binutils in bfd/pef.c when a crafted PEF file is parsed by objdump, leading to an out-of-bounds read. The flaw affects binutils versions prior to 2.34.
Original NVD description (English source)
A flaw was found in binutils. A heap-buffer-overflow vulnerability exists when processing a specially crafted XCOFF (Extended Common Object File Format) object file during linking. A local attacker could trick a user into processing this malicious file, which could lead to arbitrary code execution, allowing the attacker to run unauthorized commands, or cause a denial of service, making the system unavailable.
Vulnerability data from NVD (NIST) · CISA KEV · EPSS