Linker crash via dangling BFD pointer dereferences
Published Aug 12, 2026 · Updated Aug 12, 2026
Use-after-free in GNU ld on affected Red Hat products allows attackers to crash LTO-enabled linking with crafted object or archive files. plugin_maybe_claim closes the original BFD object, but add_archive_element retains the abfd pointer and a shallow orig_input.the_bfd copy before dereferencing both after free. Exploitation requires crafted build input and active LTO plugins; the grounded consequence is a linker segmentation fault in development or CI/CD workflows.
Summary
What happened
Use-after-free in GNU ld on affected Red Hat products allows attackers to crash LTO-enabled linking with crafted object or archive files. plugin_maybe_claim closes the original BFD object, but add_archive_element retains the abfd pointer and a shallow orig_input.the_bfd copy before dereferencing both after free. Exploitation requires crafted build input and active LTO plugins; the grounded consequence is a linker segmentation fault in development or CI/CD workflows.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2026-19548
- Published
- Aug 12, 2026
- Updated
- Aug 12, 2026
- Vendor
- 389 Directory Server
- Product
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10
- Classifications
- CWE-416, T1204.002
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- unauthenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Aug 12, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Aug 12, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
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Is a vulnerable build present?
Affected versions are unavailable in this record. Check the vendor advisory for version and patch details.
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
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Attacks
What attackers are doing with it
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Public exploit references
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Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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