Memory corruption via dangling chain pointer
Published Aug 20, 2026 · Updated Aug 20, 2026
Use-after-free in buffer.c in Libevent before 2.1.13 and 2.2.2-alpha allows local users to corrupt memory or crash a process via crafted buffer operations. In evbuffer_add_buffer_reference, an empty output buffer is freed through evbuffer_free_all_chains, but outbuf->first, outbuf->last, and outbuf->last_with_datap are left pointing to freed memory before APPEND_CHAIN_MULTICAST reuses them. Exploitation requires control over a caller that can place the output buffer in the zero-length state and then append a referenced buffer, so exposure depends on application reachability to that API path.
Summary
What happened
Use-after-free in buffer.c in Libevent before 2.1.13 and 2.2.2-alpha allows local users to corrupt memory or crash a process via crafted buffer operations. In evbuffer_add_buffer_reference, an empty output buffer is freed through evbuffer_free_all_chains, but outbuf->first, outbuf->last, and outbuf->last_with_datap are left pointing to freed memory before APPEND_CHAIN_MULTICAST reuses them. Exploitation requires control over a caller that can place the output buffer in the zero-length state and then append a referenced buffer, so exposure depends on application reachability to that API path.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2026-63381
- Published
- Aug 20, 2026
- Updated
- Aug 20, 2026
- Vendor
- Libevent
- Product
- Libevent
- Classifications
- CWE-908
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Aug 20, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Aug 20, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
Present is not the same as exploitable
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Is a vulnerable build present?
Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.
- Affected versionversion=< 2.1.13
- Affected versionversion=>= 2.2.0-alpha, < 2.2.2-alpha
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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Weakness, pattern, technique
Public exploit references
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Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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