Out-of-bounds Read in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10

CVE-2026-85498

A flaw was found in polkit. When processing input that begins with a null byte, an arithmetic error in the authentication agent helper causes an integer underflow during buffer length calculation, resulting in an out-of-bounds memory read. An attacker capable of supplying crafted input can trigger this flaw, potentially causing an application crash and resulting in a Denial of Service (DoS).

Vulnerability class: Buffer Overflow

Published · last modified .

CVSS v3 metric

CVSS v3 base score 3.5 (Low). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L.

EPSS exploit prediction

EPSS: 0.003 (18.0th percentile), scored .

Very low probability of exploitation in the next 30 days; routine patching cadence is appropriate. 18th percentile — 18.0% of CVEs in the catalogue have a lower EPSS than this one. How to read EPSS.

The 30-day trend appears once there are two daily scores.

Affected products

Weakness classification (CWE)

References

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2026-85498?
CVE-2026-85498 is a low-severity vulnerability in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10, classified under Out-of-bounds Read. CVSS score: 3.5/10. Published 2026-10-29.
How severe is CVE-2026-85498?
Low severity. CVSS v3 base score is 3.5 out of 10.