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High · 7.8 Public exploit CVE-2026-18220 EUVD-2026-50279GHSA-9x84-fgv4-3chj

Binutils: binutils: out-of-bounds write in bfd dlx elf backend relocation processing

Published Jul 29, 2026 · Updated Jul 29, 2026 · Assigned by redhat

Description

An out-of-bounds write vulnerability was found in the BFD library's DLX ELF backend (bfd/elf32-dlx.c) in GNU binutils. The dlx_rtype_to_howto() function maps ELF relocation types to internal howto structures but fails to perform adequate bounds checking on attacker-controlled relocation type values (via ELF32_R_TYPE(r_info)) before indexing into the dlx_elf_howto_table[] array. The DLX relocation type number space is non-contiguous (basic types 0-6, extended types at 0x10000+), but the default case in the switch statement allows arbitrary index values to reach the array access.

A specially crafted ELF/DLX object file can trigger this out-of-bounds write when processed by any BFD-consuming tool (objdump, readelf, strip, ld, nm, objcopy). The vulnerability has been demonstrated to achieve arbitrary code execution via a File Stream Oriented Programming (FSOP) attack against glibc FILE structures (stderr), redirecting control flow to system().

Attack scenarios include CI/CD pipelines performing automated binary analysis, developer workstations running objdump/readelf on untrusted binaries, automated security scanning or malware analysis tools invoking binutils, and package build systems processing third-party code.

Note: This vulnerability is only exploitable when binutils is built with the DLX backend enabled (typically via --enable-targets=all).

Affected products

VendorProductAffectedFixed
Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 — —
Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 — —
Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 — —
Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 — —
Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 — —
Red Hat Red Hat Hardened Images — —
Red Hat Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4 — —

Fixed in Linux distributions

Distributions backport fixes, so the version that fixes this vulnerability differs per release — upgrade to at least the version shown. From the distributions' security trackers and advisories.

ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
Debian 14 binutils No fix yet —
Debian 13 binutils No fix yet —
Debian 12 binutils No fix yet —
ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
openSUSE Tumbleweed binutils 2.47-1.1 openSUSE-SU-2026:11932-1

Public exploits

Exploit or proof-of-concept code for this vulnerability is publicly available, which lowers the bar for attackers. Treat it as a reason to patch sooner.

Third-party code, not reviewed by us. Public PoCs are sometimes fake or contain malware. Read the code first and run it only in an isolated lab, against systems you are authorised to test.

GitHub 1 repository

  • 4D4J/objdump-Out-Of-Bounds-write ★ 88 · Jun 22, 2026

    Proof of Concept (PoC) demonstrating the CVE-2026-18220, an out-of-bounds (OOB) write vulnerability in the DLX ELF backend of GNU binutils (specifically triggered via `objdump -g`)

Sources: PoC-in-GitHub, Metasploit Framework, Exploit-DB — updated daily. Only links are listed; no exploit code is hosted here.

Advisories 1

References