---
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'
---

## Overview

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.

## 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`

## Remediation

Refer to the linked advisories for vendor-supplied fixes and affected version ranges.