Description
GNU coreutils uniq is vulnerable to an out‑of‑bounds read due to incorrect handling of multibyte input when the -w (--check-chars) option is used. The find_field() function miscalculates the byte length of characters by repeatedly processing a fixed pointer instead of advancing through the input, resulting in an inflated length value.
This incorrect length is later used in a memcmp operation, causing reads beyond the allocated buffer when processing crafted multibyte input.
When running GNU coreutils uniq with attacker-provided arguments, this behavior leads to a crash and potential adjacent heap memory exposure.
This issue has been fixed in the commit d64e35a8a4c0e4608321433e0d84d917e4e36371.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected | Fixed |
|---|---|---|---|
| GNU | coreutils | 9.5 – ≤ 9.11 | — |
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 | coreutils | No fix yet | — |
| Debian 13 | coreutils | No fix yet | — |
| Debian 12 | coreutils | No fix yet | — |
Ubuntu
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ubuntu 26.04 LTS | coreutils | 9.7-3ubuntu2.1 | USN-8697-1 |
| Ubuntu 24.04 LTS | coreutils | 9.4-3ubuntu6.3 | USN-8697-1 |
| Ubuntu 22.04 LTS | coreutils | 8.32-4.1ubuntu1.4 | USN-8697-1 |
Red Hat
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| RHEL 10 | coreutils +1 | 9.5-8.el10_2.1 | RHSA-2026:67886 |
Show 1 more (older releases, extended support, other products)Fewer releases
| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Red Hat Hardened Images 1 | coreutils +2 | 9.11-5.1.hum1 | RHSA-2026:46515 |
AlmaLinux
Errata ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| AlmaLinux 10 | coreutils +2 | 9.5-8.el10_2.1 | ALSA-2026:67886 |
Rocky Linux
Errata ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rocky Linux 10 | coreutils | 9.5-8.el10_2.1 | RLSA-2026:67886 |
SUSE
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| SLES for SAP 16.0 | coreutils +2 | 9.6-160000.3.1 | SUSE-SU-2026:24268-1 |
| SLES 16.0 | coreutils +2 | 9.6-160000.3.1 | SUSE-SU-2026:24268-1 |
| SLE Micro 6.2 | coreutils +1 | 9.6-160000.3.1 | SUSE-SU-2026:24406-1 |
openSUSE
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| openSUSE Tumbleweed | coreutils | 9.11-5.1 | openSUSE-SU-2026:11764-1 |
| openSUSE Leap 16.0 | coreutils +3 | 9.6-160000.3.1 | openSUSE-SU-2026:22147-1 |
Oracle Linux
| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oracle Linux 10 | coreutils +2 | 9.5-8.0.1.el10_2.1 | ELSA-2026-67886 |
Advisories 10
- SUSE-SU-2026:24406-1 Security update for coreutils SUSE / openSUSE Security Updates · Oct 30, 2026
- ALSA-2026:67886 Moderate: coreutils security update AlmaLinux Security Advisories · Oct 29, 2026
- openSUSE-SU-2026:22147-1 Security update for coreutils SUSE / openSUSE Security Updates · Oct 23, 2026
- SUSE-SU-2026:24268-1 Security update for coreutils SUSE / openSUSE Security Updates · Oct 23, 2026
- RHSA-2026:67886 Red Hat Security Advisory: coreutils security update Red Hat Security Advisories (RHSA) · Oct 14, 2026
- RHSA-2026:46515 Red Hat Security Advisory: Red Hat Hardened Images RPMs Security Update Red Hat Security Advisories (RHSA) · Oct 6, 2026
- RLSA-2026:67886 Moderate: coreutils security update Rocky Linux Security Advisories · Sep 17, 2026
- ELSA-2026-67886 Moderate: coreutils security update (Oracle Linux 10) Oracle Linux Security Advisories (ELSA) · Sep 16, 2026
- openSUSE-SU-2026:11764-1 coreutils-9.11-5.1 on GA media SUSE / openSUSE Security Updates · Sep 13, 2026
- USN-8697-1 coreutils vulnerabilities Ubuntu Security Notices (USN) · Aug 31, 2026