Heap corruption via wrapped tab-stop allocation
Published Jul 24, 2026 · Updated Jul 24, 2026
Heap-based buffer overflow in GNU coreutils unexpand 9.11 and earlier allows local users to corrupt heap memory via large tab stops. The -t option's allocation calculation multiplies an attacker-controlled tab-stop value without detecting integer wraparound, creating an undersized heap buffer that subsequent writes exceed. Reachability requires running unexpand with a large attacker-provided -t value and crafted input; the demonstrated consequence is a crash, while a heap-write primitive depends on memory layout.
Summary
What happened
Heap-based buffer overflow in GNU coreutils unexpand 9.11 and earlier allows local users to corrupt heap memory via large tab stops. The -t option's allocation calculation multiplies an attacker-controlled tab-stop value without detecting integer wraparound, creating an undersized heap buffer that subsequent writes exceed. Reachability requires running unexpand with a large attacker-provided -t value and crafted input; the demonstrated consequence is a crash, while a heap-write primitive depends on memory layout.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2026-56392
- Published
- Jul 24, 2026
- Updated
- Jul 24, 2026
- Vendor
- The GnuPG Project
- Product
- coreutils
- Classifications
- CWE-122
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- unauthenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Jul 24, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Jul 24, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
Present is not the same as exploitable
Compare your product and version with the public record. A matching version still requires validation against your environment.
Is a vulnerable build present?
Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.
- Affected versionversion=0 <=9.11
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.
Attacks
What attackers are doing with it
Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.
Weakness, pattern, technique
Public exploit references
No public exploit references are available in this record.
Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.
Technologies
Your stack
See the directory against your own environment.
Your stack
Check the software in your environment
Book a demo to see how Hinoki identifies affected software and validates exploitability in your environment.
Book a demo