CVE-2026-63381

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.

CVSS severity5.8
Medium
EPSS probability0.12%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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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

  1. Aug 20, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. 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.

  1. Affected versionversion=< 2.1.13
  2. Affected versionversion=>= 2.2.0-alpha, < 2.2.2-alpha

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

Libevent · Libeventversion=< 2.1.13; version=>= 2.2.0-alpha, < 2.2.2-alpha

Published CVSS scores

5.8GitHub_MCVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:P/PR:L/UI:N/VC:L/VI:L/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N

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.

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No observations available

Sep 10, 2026Sep 16, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 16, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectorlocal
Privilegesauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-908Use of Uninitialized Resource

Public exploit references

No public exploit references are available in this record.

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Technologies

Your stack

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Your stack

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