{"id":"CVE-2026-19548","title":"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","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 obje…","severity":"medium","cvss":5.5,"cvssVector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H","cwe":["CWE-416"],"vendor":"redhat","product":"hardened_images","affected":["hardened_images","openshift_container_platform = 4.0","enterprise_linux = 6.0","enterprise_linux = 7.0","enterprise_linux = 8.0","enterprise_linux = 9.0","enterprise_linux = 10.0"],"published":"2026-08-12","updated":"2026-10-14","sourceUpdated":"2026-10-14T03:17:23.293","source":"NVD","sourceUrl":"https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-19548","references":[{"url":"https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:82359","label":"secalert@redhat.com"},{"url":"https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-19548","label":"secalert@redhat.com"},{"url":"https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2507832","label":"secalert@redhat.com"}],"tags":["nvd"],"epss":0.00155,"epssPercentile":0.04141,"ingestedAt":"2026-10-14T04:12:54.293Z","slug":"CVE-2026-19548","body":"## Overview\n\nMultiple 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:\n\n1. Line ~1442: accessing abfd->my_archive via bfd_usrdata(abfd->my_archive)\n2. Line ~1493: multiple accesses to abfd and abfd->my_archive in a conditional check and bfd_get_filename call\n3. Line ~1525: dereferencing the shallow copy orig_input.the_bfd->my_archive in trace/verbose logging\n\nThe 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.\n\nAn 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.\n\nThe 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.\n\n## Affected\n\n- `hardened_images`\n- `openshift_container_platform = 4.0`\n- `enterprise_linux = 6.0`\n- `enterprise_linux = 7.0`\n- `enterprise_linux = 8.0`\n- `enterprise_linux = 9.0`\n- `enterprise_linux = 10.0`\n\n## Remediation\n\nRefer to the linked advisories for vendor-supplied fixes and affected version ranges.","depth":"sunlit","depthScore":30,"depthScoreParts":{"impact":30.3,"likelihood":0,"exploitation":0,"ransomware":0},"changes":[]}