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TI-2026-29221 Aliases CVE-2026-40469GHSA-5x2x-26c9-4q5x

Heap buffer overflow in gawk

Priority LOW 23CWE-190Published · Updated

Key facts

Attack vector
Local
Privileges required
None
User interaction
None
Attack complexity
Low
Attack requirements
None
Impact type
—
Confidentiality · integrity · availability
None · None · Low
Fix status
Partial Red Hat: 1 fixed, 1 without a fix

Attack profile from CVSS 4.0 · CNA. Fix status from CNA and Red Hat.

Summary

Integer overflow vulnerability has been found in "builtin.c" program file of gawk (do_sub() routine). This issue could be used to overwrite gawk heap metadata and objects causing the program to crash. It affects 32-bit builds of gawk in versions 5.4.0 and below.

Why it matters now

Exploitation None reported CISA SSVC · not in CISA KEV
EPSS 0.00213 11th percentileScored 2026-11-07
Fix Partial Red Hat: 2 advisoriesRed Hat: 1 fixed, 1 without a fix

SSVC decision points

CISA ADP · SSVC 2.0.3

Exploitation
None
Automatable
No
Technical impact
Partial

The decision (Track, Attend, Act) also depends on your mission and well-being impact; see CISA's SSVC guide.

Affected products

VendorProductAffected versionsFixed inStatusSource
GNUgawkup to 5.4.0—No fix listedCNA
  • gawk VendorGNU Affected up to 5.4.0 Fixed in — No fix listed CNA

CPE configurations NVD · 1

CPEVersionsRoleVendor
cpe:2.3:a:fossies:gawk:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*up to 5.4.0VulnerableFossies
  • cpe:2.3:a:fossies:gawk:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions up to 5.4.0 Vulnerable ·Fossies

Remediation

Red Hat 2 advisories

  • RHSA-2026:49661 Released 2026-08-03 · Red Hat rating Moderate
    Red Hat Hardened Images RPMs Security Update
    • Red Hat Hardened Images gawk-5.4.1-1.hum1@aarch64, gawk-5.4.1-1.hum1@src, gawk-5.4.1-1.hum1@x86_64 +6
  • RHSA-2026:40041 Released 2026-07-15 · Red Hat rating Moderate
    Red Hat Hardened Images RPMs Security Update
    • Red Hat Hardened Images gawk-5.4.0-3.1.hum1@aarch64, gawk-5.4.0-3.1.hum1@src, gawk-5.4.0-3.1.hum1@x86_64 +6

Vendor assessments

Red Hat

Red Hat rating: Moderate. Red Hat's page for this CVE →

ProductStatusPlan or fix
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6AffectedNo fix planned: Out of support scope
Red Hat Hardened ImagesFixed RHSA-2026:40041, RHSA-2026:49661
Not affected: 6 products
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9
  • Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4
  • Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 5

Timeline

  1. 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-40469
  2. 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-5x2x-26c9-4q5x
  3. 2026-10-16 Affected versions changed · Red Hat
  4. 2026-11-06 Affected versions changed · Red Hat

References

  • TI-2026-19388 telnetd in GNU Inetutils through 2.7 allows remote authentication bypass via a "-f root"… KEVCVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.8
  • TI-2014-05975 GNU Bash through 4.3 bash43-025 processes trailing strings after certain malformed… KEVCVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.8
  • TI-2014-05157 GNU Bash through 4.3 processes trailing strings after function definitions in the values… KEVCVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.8
  • TI-2014-05164 GNU Bash through 4.3 bash43-026 does not properly parse function definitions in the… KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.8
  • TI-2023-04522 Glibc: buffer overflow in ld.so leading to privilege escalation KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 7.8
  • TI-2009-03392 The TLS protocol, and the SSL protocol 3.0 and possibly earlier, as used in Microsoft… CVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.8
See all 1272 →

Sources