CVE-2026-6844Binutils: binutils: denial of service vulnerabilities in readelf via crafted elf files
- 5.5MediumCVSS base score
- 0.10%Exploitation in 30 daysEPSS · top 99% of all CVEs
- NoKnown exploitednot in CISA's KEV catalog
- NonePublic exploitsnone known yet
Description
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.
Timeline
ID reserved
By redhat
Published
- 7 months later
· 7 months later
Record updated
Changes after publication (a new score, a public exploit, EPSS crossing 1, 10 or 50 %, leaving KEV) are kept since November 2026; earlier ones are not known.
Scores
| Scored by | CVSS | Score | Vector |
|---|---|---|---|
| redhatCNA (assigner) | 3.1 | Medium5.5 | CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H |
| NVDNVD · Analyzed | 3.1 | Medium5.5 | CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H |
- EPSS (exploitation in 30 days)
- 0.10% · top 99% of all CVEs (12 Nov 2026)
- CISA SSVC
- Exploitation: none · Automatable: no · Technical impact: partial
The list uses the assigner's score when there is one, then CISA's, then NVD's: Medium 5.5.
Affected products
Red Hat · Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10
All versions: affected
Red Hat · Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10
All versions: affected
Red Hat · Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10
All versions: affected
Red Hat · Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10
All versions: affected
Red Hat · Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7
All versions: affected
Red Hat · Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8
All versions: affected
Red Hat · Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8
All versions: affected
Red Hat · Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8
All versions: affected
Red Hat · Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8
All versions: affected
Red Hat · Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8
All versions: affected
Red Hat · Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8
All versions: affected
Red Hat · Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8
All versions: affected
Red Hat · Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9
All versions: affected
Red Hat · Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9
All versions: affected
Red Hat · Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9
All versions: affected
Red Hat · Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9
All versions: affected
Red Hat · Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9
All versions: affected
Red Hat · Red Hat Hardened Images
All versions: affected
Red Hat · Red Hat OpenShift AI (RHOAI)
All versions: unknown
Red Hat · Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4
All versions: affected
Red Hat · Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4
All versions: affected
What to do
Workaround: To mitigate this vulnerability, users should avoid using the `readelf` utility on untrusted or suspicious ELF files. Processing a specially crafted ELF file with `readelf` can lead to a denial of service.
References
References2
- https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-6844 (opens in a new tab)vdb-entryx_refsource_REDHAT
- RHBZ#2460016 (opens in a new tab)issue-trackingx_refsource_REDHAT
Sources
The same CVE in the primary databases and aggregators, to check against.
- CVE.org record (opens in a new tab)
- CVE List JSON (GitHub) (opens in a new tab)
- NVD (opens in a new tab)
- FIRST EPSS (opens in a new tab)
- EUVD EUVD-2026-24710 (opens in a new tab)
- OSV.dev (opens in a new tab)
- GitHub Advisories (opens in a new tab)
- CIRCL Vulnerability-Lookup (opens in a new tab)
Badge for a README or a ticket
[](https://cveledger.app/cve/CVE-2026-6844)Record last updated .