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Fencer Vulns
medium 5.5

CVE-2026-19548 json

Binutils: binutils: multiple use-after-free in add_archive_element via lto plugin processing

published 2026-08-12 2 mo ago modified 2026-11-06 3 d ago also EUVD-2026-57318

cvss
5.5
version 3.1, CNA
cisa kev
Not listed
not in CISA's catalog
epss
0.2%
EPSS 0.2% chance of exploitation in 30 days, percentile 6%
public exploits
0
none known

Summary

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.

Patch / fix

  • Red Hat Red Hat Hardened Images 2.46.1-1.4.hum1
  • binutils hummingbird 1 2.46.1-1.4.hum1
  • binutils-gold hummingbird 1 2.46.1-1.4.hum1
  • binutils-gprofng hummingbird 1 2.46.1-1.4.hum1

red hat advisories RHSA-2026:82359

  • binutils openSUSE Tumbleweed 2.47-2.1

opensuse advisories openSUSE-SU-2026:12315-1

Vendor advisories

What the vendors themselves say about their products: affected, fixed or not affected, and what to do.

red hat product security vex CVE-2026-19548 updated cvss 5.5

binutils: binutils: Multiple Use-After-Free in add_archive_element via LTO plugin processing

  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 binutils 2.41-63.el10
    affected: workaround, no fix planned “Out of support scope”
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 binutils, binutils 2.41-63.el10 Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 binutils, mingw32-binutils, mingw64-binutils, binutils 2.41-63.el10, mingw-binutils-generic, gcc-toolset-14-binutils, +6 more Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 binutils, binutils-gold, mingw32-binutils, mingw64-binutils, binutils 2.41-63.el10, mingw-binutils-generic, +9 more Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 mingw32-binutils, mingw64-binutils, binutils 2.41-63.el10, mingw-binutils 2.44-1.el10, gcc-toolset-15-binutils 2.44-8.el10, gcc-toolset-16-binutils 2.46-2.el10 Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4 openshift/ose-rhel-coreos-8, openshift/ose-rhel-coreos-9 Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 5 openshift/ose-rhel-coreos-9
    affected: workaround, no fix available “Fix deferred”
  • Red Hat OpenShift AI (RHOAI) rhoai/odh-dashboard-rhel9
    under investigation
  • Red Hat Hardened Images binutils 2.46.1-1.4.hum1, binutils-gold 2.46.1-1.4.hum1, binutils-gprofng 2.46.1-1.4.hum1
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2026:82359

Red Hat CSAF VEX © Red Hat, Inc., from https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/; changed: reduced to product statuses and remediations. CC BY 4.0 · csaf

CISA SSVC

Exploitation
none
Automatable
no
Technical impact
partial
Assessed
2 mo ago

Exploit prediction

0.17% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 6% of all scored CVEs (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-08).

CVSS scores

assigned by version score vector
CNA 3.1 5.5 CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

Affected products

  • Red Hat Red Hat Hardened Images
  • Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10
  • Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6
  • Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7
  • Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8
  • Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9
  • Red Hat Red Hat OpenShift AI (RHOAI)
  • Red Hat Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4
  • Red Hat Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 5

Classification

Weakness

References

Sources

Fencer Vulns keeps one entry per vulnerability: the CVE id wins, then GHSA, and records that alias each other are merged, except that two CVEs always keep separate entries. The same data is available as JSON.