---
id: CVE-2026-88839
title: >-
  BusyBox passwd/group tokenize() references a stale endpoint pointer after
  trimming, causing an out-of-bounds write of heap pointers.
summary: >-
  BusyBox passwd/group tokenize() references a stale endpoint pointer after
  trimming, causing an out-of-bounds write of heap pointers.
severity: medium
cvss: 6.7
cvssVector: 'CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H'
cwe:
  - CWE-787
vendor: Red Hat
product: busybox-main
affected:
  - busybox-main (all versions)
published: '2026-09-23'
updated: '2026-09-25'
sourceUpdated: '2026-09-25T23:16:54.907'
source: NVD
sourceUrl: 'https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-88839'
references:
  - url: 'https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:72111'
    label: secalert@redhat.com
  - url: 'https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-88839'
    label: secalert@redhat.com
  - url: 'https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2531353'
    label: secalert@redhat.com
  - url: >-
      https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/2026/cve-2026-88839.json
  - url: 'https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-88839'
  - url: 'https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-88839'
tags:
  - nvd
  - cve.org
  - csaf
  - vex
  - red-hat
ssvc:
  exploitation: none
  automatable: 'no'
  technicalImpact: total
  timestamp: '2026-09-23T19:19:09.117423Z'
epss: 0.00117
epssPercentile: 0.01483
ingestedAt: '2026-09-23T18:29:33.146Z'
patched:
  - hardened_images
---

## Overview

BusyBox passwd/group tokenize() references a stale endpoint pointer after trimming, causing an out-of-bounds write of heap pointers.

## Remediation

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

## Vendor advisories

- **Red Hat VEX** · Moderate · affected: Red Hat Hardened Images · no fix planned: Red Hat Hardened Images · updated 2026-09-24 · [vex](https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/2026/cve-2026-88839.json)
- **RHSA-2026:72111** · Red Hat · fixed in: Red Hat Hardened Images · released 2026-09-25 · [advisory](https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:72111)