CVE catalog

CVE-2026-19548

binutils: CVE-2026-19548

Severity: Medium · CVSS 5.5CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Published: Aug 12, 2026, 1:40:00 PM UTC
Source: [NVD] · [CVE record]
EPSS: 0.17% · Oct 25, 2026

Multiple Use-After-Free vulnerabilities were found in the add_archive_element function in ld/ldmain.c of the GNU linker (ld), a component of binutils. The root cause is that plugin_maybe_claim() in ld/plugin.c frees the original BFD object via bfd_close/_bfd_delete_bfd when entry->the_bfd->my_archive == NULL, but the caller retains both the original abfd parameter and a shallow copy (orig_input.the_bfd) as dangling pointers. These dangling pointers are subsequently dereferenced at three distinct locations in add_archive_element: 1. Line ~1442: accessing abfd->my_archive via bfd_usrdata(abfd->my_archive) 2. Line ~1493: multiple accesses to abfd and abfd->my_archive in a conditional check and bfd_get_filename call 3. Line ~1525: dereferencing the shallow copy orig_input.the_bfd->my_archive in trace/verbose logging The vulnerability is triggered when LTO plugins are active (link_info.lto_plugin_active is true) and the input object has abfd->my_archive == NULL, which is a valid state for standalone object files. Red Hat builds binutils with --enable-plugins and --enable-lto, confirming the vulnerable code path is compiled in and reachable. An attacker who can supply a crafted object or archive file to a build process using LTO-enabled linking could exploit this flaw to cause a denial of service (linker crash via segmentation fault). Arbitrary code execution is theoretically possible through heap manipulation but is substantially mitigated by hardening measures including stack protector, FORTIFY_SOURCE, ASLR, and PIE. The attack surface is limited to build-time environments — the linker is a development tool not exposed in production runtime. The most realistic exploitation scenario is a supply chain attack introducing a crafted object file as a build dependency in CI/CD pipelines or development environments.

Vulnerable and fixed packages

Distribution-reported package versions and fixes. These do not depend on matching against the OpenFactory package catalog.

Distribution	Package	Release	Version	Status
Debian	binutils	sid	`2.47.50.20261021-1`	vulnerable
Debian	binutils	forky	`2.47.50.20261021-1`	vulnerable
Debian	binutils	trixie	`2.44-3`	vulnerable
Debian	binutils	bookworm	`2.40-2`	vulnerable
Cpe	hardened_images	Not reported	Not reported	unknown
Cpe	openshift_container_platform	Not reported	Not reported	unknown
Cpe	enterprise_linux	Not reported	Not reported	unknown

Fixed-version evidence

Distribution	Package	Type	Release	Fixed version	Urgency	Origin	Bugs
Debian	binutils	source	sid	`(unfixed)`	unimportant	Not reported	Not reported
Debian	binutils	source	forky	`(unfixed)`	unimportant	Not reported	Not reported
Debian	binutils	source	trixie	`(unfixed)`	unimportant	Not reported	Not reported
Debian	binutils	source	bookworm	`(unfixed)`	unimportant	Not reported	Not reported

OpenFactory catalog packages

[Debian 12 (Bookworm)]

[binutils]Affected
Details (2)
- 2.40-2 · amd64 · bookworm
  Affected
  dsa · binutils · debian · bookworm
- 2.40-2 · arm64 · bookworm
  Affected
  dsa · binutils · debian · bookworm
[binutils-aarch64-linux-gnu]Affected
Source package: [binutils]
Details (2)
- 2.40-2 · amd64 · bookworm
  Affected
  dsa · binutils · debian · bookworm
- 2.40-2 · arm64 · bookworm
  Affected
  dsa · binutils · debian · bookworm
[binutils-aarch64-linux-gnu-dbg]Affected
Source package: [binutils]
Details (2)
- 2.40-2 · amd64 · bookworm
  Affected
  dsa · binutils · debian · bookworm
- 2.40-2 · arm64 · bookworm
  Affected
  dsa · binutils · debian · bookworm
[binutils-alpha-linux-gnu]Affected
Source package: [binutils]
Details (1)
- 2.40-2 · amd64 · bookworm
  Affected
  dsa · binutils · debian · bookworm
[binutils-alpha-linux-gnu-dbg]Affected
Source package: [binutils]
Details (1)
- 2.40-2 · amd64 · bookworm
  Affected
  dsa · binutils · debian · bookworm
[binutils-arc-linux-gnu]Affected
Source package: [binutils]
Details (2)
- 2.40-2 · amd64 · bookworm
  Affected
  dsa · binutils · debian · bookworm
- 2.40-2 · arm64 · bookworm
  Affected
  dsa · binutils · debian · bookworm
[binutils-arc-linux-gnu-dbg]Affected
Source package: [binutils]
Details (2)
- 2.40-2 · amd64 · bookworm
  Affected
  dsa · binutils · debian · bookworm
- 2.40-2 · arm64 · bookworm
  Affected
  dsa · binutils · debian · bookworm
[binutils-arm-linux-gnueabi]Affected
Source package: [binutils]
Details (2)
- 2.40-2 · amd64 · bookworm
  Affected
  dsa · binutils · debian · bookworm
- 2.40-2 · arm64 · bookworm
  Affected
  dsa · binutils · debian · bookworm
[binutils-arm-linux-gnueabi-dbg]Affected
Source package: [binutils]
Details (2)
- 2.40-2 · amd64 · bookworm
  Affected
  dsa · binutils · debian · bookworm
- 2.40-2 · arm64 · bookworm
  Affected
  dsa · binutils · debian · bookworm
[binutils-arm-linux-gnueabihf]Affected
Source package: [binutils]
Details (2)
- 2.40-2 · amd64 · bookworm
  Affected
  dsa · binutils · debian · bookworm
- 2.40-2 · arm64 · bookworm
  Affected
  dsa · binutils · debian · bookworm
[binutils-arm-linux-gnueabihf-dbg]Affected
Source package: [binutils]
Details (2)
- 2.40-2 · amd64 · bookworm
  Affected
  dsa · binutils · debian · bookworm
- 2.40-2 · arm64 · bookworm
  Affected
  dsa · binutils · debian · bookworm
[binutils-common]Affected
Source package: [binutils]
Details (2)
- 2.40-2 · amd64 · bookworm
  Affected
  dsa · binutils · debian · bookworm
- 2.40-2 · arm64 · bookworm
  Affected
  dsa · binutils · debian · bookworm
[binutils-dev]Affected
Source package: [binutils]
Details (2)
- 2.40-2 · amd64 · bookworm
  Affected
  dsa · binutils · debian · bookworm
- 2.40-2 · arm64 · bookworm
  Affected
  dsa · binutils · debian · bookworm
[binutils-doc]Affected
Source package: [binutils]
Details (2)
- 2.40-2 · all · bookworm
  Affected
  dsa · binutils · debian · bookworm
- 2.40-2 · all · bookworm
  Affected
  dsa · binutils · debian · bookworm
[binutils-for-build]Affected
Source package: [binutils]
Details (2)
- 2.40-2 · all · bookworm
  Affected
  dsa · binutils · debian · bookworm
- 2.40-2 · all · bookworm
  Affected
  dsa · binutils · debian · bookworm
[binutils-for-host]Affected
Source package: [binutils]
Details (2)
- 2.40-2 · amd64 · bookworm
  Affected
  dsa · binutils · debian · bookworm
- 2.40-2 · arm64 · bookworm
  Affected
  dsa · binutils · debian · bookworm
[binutils-hppa64-linux-gnu]Affected
Source package: [binutils]
Details (1)
- 2.40-2 · amd64 · bookworm
  Affected
  dsa · binutils · debian · bookworm
[binutils-hppa64-linux-gnu-dbg]Affected
Source package: [binutils]
Details (1)
- 2.40-2 · amd64 · bookworm
  Affected
  dsa · binutils · debian · bookworm
[binutils-hppa-linux-gnu]Affected
Source package: [binutils]
Details (1)
- 2.40-2 · amd64 · bookworm
  Affected
  dsa · binutils · debian · bookworm
[binutils-hppa-linux-gnu-dbg]Affected
Source package: [binutils]
Details (1)
- 2.40-2 · amd64 · bookworm
  Affected
  dsa · binutils · debian · bookworm

Next results

Observed: Oct 23, 2026, 9:42:11 PM UTC

References

[Debian Security Tracker] · [FIRST EPSS] · [National Vulnerability Database (NVD)] · [Red Hat security advisories and VEX] · [SUSE security advisories and VEX]