Binutils: binutils: denial of service vulnerabilities in readelf via crafted elf files

Summary

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

1. Apr 22, 2026, 8:37 AM UTCCVE published
2. Apr 23, 2026, 1:58 PM UTCCISA SSVC assessment

   Exploitation: none · Automatable: no · Technical impact: partial

3. Sep 1, 2026, 11:45 AM UTCRecord last updated

Affected versions

• binutils

  Version range not reported

• gcc-toolset-15-binutils

  Version range not reported

• gdb

  Version range not reported

• mingw-binutils

  Version range not reported

• binutils

  Version range not reported

• binutils

  Version range not reported

• gcc-toolset-14-binutils

  Version range not reported

• gcc-toolset-14-gdb

  Version range not reported

• gcc-toolset-15-binutils

  Version range not reported

• gcc-toolset-15-gdb

  Version range not reported

• gdb

  Version range not reported

• mingw-binutils

  Version range not reported

• binutils

  Version range not reported

• gcc-toolset-14-binutils

  Version range not reported

• gcc-toolset-15-binutils

  Version range not reported

• gdb

  Version range not reported

• mingw-binutils

  Version range not reported

• binutils

  Version range not reported

• openshift/ose-rhel-coreos-8

  Version range not reported

• openshift/ose-rhel-coreos-9

  Version range not reported

References 2