---
id: CVE-2026-6844
title: A flaw was found in the `readelf` utility of the binutils package
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, …
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-400
vendor: gnu
product: binutils
affected:
  - binutils
  - hardened_images
  - openshift_container_platform = 4.0
  - enterprise_linux = 7.0
  - enterprise_linux = 8.0
  - enterprise_linux = 9.0
  - enterprise_linux = 10.0
published: '2026-04-22'
updated: '2026-08-25'
source: NVD
sourceUrl: 'https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-6844'
references:
  - url: 'https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-6844'
    label: secalert@redhat.com
  - url: 'https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2460016'
    label: secalert@redhat.com
tags:
  - nvd
epss: 0.00104
epssPercentile: 0.01151
ingestedAt: '2026-08-26T13:44:27.002Z'
---

## Overview

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.

## Affected

- `binutils`
- `hardened_images`
- `openshift_container_platform = 4.0`
- `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.