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TI-2026-40653 Aliases CVE-2026-56288GHSA-m3j2-9m66-r96h

NULL Pointer Dereference in GNU patch

Priority LOW 20CWE-476Published · Updated

Key facts

Attack vector
Local
Privileges required
None
User interaction
Active
Attack complexity
Low
Attack requirements
None
Impact type
Denial of service
Confidentiality · integrity · availability
None · None · Low
Fix status
Fixed

Attack profile from CVSS 4.0 · CNA. Fix status from CNA and Red Hat. Impact type from CWE-476.

Summary

GNU patch is vulnerable to a NULL pointer dereference when processing a specially crafted unified-diff patch file. Improper handling of consecutive end-of-file newline markers can corrupt internal hunk (single block of changes in diff) data structures, causing the application to pass a NULL pointer to fwrite() during patch processing. An attacker can trigger this condition with a malicious patch file, causing the utility to crash and resulting in a denial of service. This issue has been fixed in the commit e6d6a4e021660679d7fc9150f981d4920f722313

Why it matters now

Exploitation None reported CISA SSVC · not in CISA KEV
EPSS 0.00115 1st percentileScored 2026-11-07
Fix Fixed Red Hat: 1 advisory

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
GNUpatchup to 2.8.0—No fix listedCNA
  • patch VendorGNU Affected up to 2.8.0 Fixed in — No fix listed CNA

CPE configurations NVD · 1

CPEVersionsRoleVendor
cpe:2.3:a:gnu:patch:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*up to 2.8.0VulnerableGNU
  • cpe:2.3:a:gnu:patch:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions up to 2.8.0 Vulnerable ·GNU

Remediation

Red Hat 1 advisory

  • RHSA-2026:38019 Released 2026-07-10 · Red Hat rating Moderate
    Red Hat Hardened Images RPMs Security Update
    • Red Hat Hardened Images patch-2.8-4.3.hum1@aarch64, patch-2.8-4.3.hum1@src, patch-2.8-4.3.hum1@x86_64

Vendor assessments

Red Hat

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

ProductStatusPlan or fix
Red Hat Hardened ImagesFixed RHSA-2026:38019

Timeline

  1. 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-56288
  2. 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-m3j2-9m66-r96h

References

Patch 2

Advisory 1

  • TI-2015-01271 Directory traversal vulnerability in GNU patch versions which support Git-style patching… CVSS 3.0HIGH 7.5
  • TI-2018-05076 A double free exists in the another_hunk function in pch.c in GNU patch through 2.7.6. CVSS 3.0HIGH 7.5
  • TI-2018-05075 An issue was discovered in GNU patch through 2.7.6. CVSS 3.0HIGH 7.5
  • TI-2018-15808 GNU Patch version 2.7.6 contains an input validation vulnerability when processing patch… CVSS 3.0HIGH 7.8
  • TI-2019-10248 GNU patch through 2.7.6 is vulnerable to OS shell command injection that can be exploited… CVSS 3.0HIGH 7.8
  • TI-2018-14931 do_ed_script in pch.c in GNU patch through 2.7.6 does not block strings beginning with a… CVSS 3.0HIGH 7.8
See all 14 →

Sources

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