Description
An issue was discovered in Nix before 2.34.7 and Lix before 2.95.2. Unbounded recursion in the NAR (Nix Archive) parser could lead to a stack-to-heap overflow when the parser is run on a coroutine stack. The stack is allocated without a guard page, which means that a stack overflow could overwrite memory on the heap and could allow arbitrary code execution as the Nix daemon (run as root in multi-user installations) if ASLR hardening is bypassed. This can be exploited by all users able to connect to the daemon (e.g., in Nix, this is configurable via the allowed-users setting, defaulting to all users). The fixed versions are 2.34.7, 2.33.6, 2.32.8, 2.31.5, 2.30.5, 2.29.4, and 2.28.7 for Nix (introduced in 2.24.4); and 2.95.2, 2.94.2, and 2.93.4 for Lix (introduced in 2.93.0).
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected | Fixed |
|---|---|---|---|
| NixOS | Nix | 2.24.4 – < 2.28.7, 2.29.0 – < 2.29.4, 2.30.0 – < 2.30.5, 2.31.0 – < 2.31.5, 2.32.0 – < 2.32.8, 2.33.0 – < 2.33.6, 2.34.0 – < 2.34.7 | 2.28.7 |
| Lix Project | Lix | 2.93.0 – < 2.93.4, 2.94.0 – < 2.94.2, 2.95.0 – < 2.95.2 | 2.93.4 |
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.
Debian
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Debian 14 | nix | 2.34.8+dfsg-1 | — |
| Debian 13 | nix | No fix yet | — |
Ubuntu
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ubuntu 26.10 | nix | No fix yet | — |
| Ubuntu 26.04 LTS | nix | No fix yet | — |
| Ubuntu 25.10 | nix | No fix yet | — |
Show 2 more (older releases, extended support, other products)Fewer releases
| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ubuntu Pro 24.04 LTS | nix | No fix yet | — |
| Ubuntu Pro 22.04 LTS | nix | No fix yet | — |
Red Hat
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Red Hat Hardened Images 1 | bootc +1 | 1.14.0-0.1.1.hum1 | RHSA-2026:7046 |
| Red Hat Hardened Images 1 | chunkah | 0.4.0-1.hum1 | RHSA-2026:10208 |
| Red Hat Hardened Images 1 | ruff +1 | 0.15.11-1.hum1 | RHSA-2026:10999 |
| Red Hat Hardened Images 1 | rust +16 | 1.95.0-2.hum1 | RHSA-2026:9438 |
openSUSE
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| openSUSE Tumbleweed | nix | 2.34.7-1.1 | openSUSE-SU-2026:10696-1 |
Advisories 5
- RHSA-2026:10999 Red Hat Security Advisory: Red Hat Hardened Images RPMs bug fix and enhancement update Red Hat Security Advisories (RHSA) · Oct 16, 2026
- RHSA-2026:7046 Red Hat Security Advisory: Red Hat Hardened Images RPMs bug fix and enhancement update Red Hat Security Advisories (RHSA) · Oct 6, 2026
- RHSA-2026:9438 Red Hat Security Advisory: Red Hat Hardened Images RPMs bug fix and enhancement update Red Hat Security Advisories (RHSA) · Oct 6, 2026
- RHSA-2026:10208 Red Hat Security Advisory: Red Hat Hardened Images RPMs bug fix and enhancement update Red Hat Security Advisories (RHSA) · Sep 22, 2026
- openSUSE-SU-2026:10696-1 nix-2.34.7-1.1 on GA media SUSE / openSUSE Security Updates · May 6, 2026
References
- https://discourse.nixos.org/t/security-advisory-local-privilege-escalation-in-lix-and-nix/77407
- https://github.com/NixOS/nix/security/advisories/GHSA-vh5x-56v6-4368
- https://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2026/05/04/33
- https://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2026/05/04/32
- https://lix.systems/blog/2026-05-05-lix-unsigned-integer-overflow/