Resource exhaustion in GNU Binutils
CVE-2026-6844
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 Executable and Linkable Format (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, leading to a denial of service.
Vulnerability class: DoS (Denial of Service)
Published · last modified .
CVSS v3 metric
CVSS v3 base score 5.5 (Medium). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H.
EPSS exploit prediction
EPSS: 0.001 (3.3th percentile), scored .
Very low probability of exploitation in the next 30 days; routine patching cadence is appropriate. 3rd percentile — 3.3% of CVEs in the catalogue have a lower EPSS than this one. How to read EPSS.
EPSS over last 30 days · oldest: 0.001 · newest: 0.001 · change: +0.000
Affected products
- GNU Binutils
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9
- Red Hat Hardened Images
- Red Hat Openshift Container Platform 4
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux — versions 7.0, 8.0, 9.0
- Red Hat Hardened Images
- Red Hat Openshift Container Platform — versions 4.0
Weakness classification (CWE)
References
- access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-6844 (Third Party Advisory, vdb-entry)
- bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi (issue-tracking, Third Party Advisory, Issue Tracking)
Frequently asked questions
- What is CVE-2026-6844?
- CVE-2026-6844 is a medium-severity vulnerability in GNU Binutils, classified under Uncontrolled Resource Consumption. CVSS score: 5.5/10. Published 2026-04-22.
- How severe is CVE-2026-6844?
- Medium severity. CVSS v3 base score is 5.5 out of 10.