Infinite Loop in libarchive RAR5 Decompression causing DoS
CVE-2026-4111 Published on March 13, 2026
Libarchive: infinite loop denial of service in rar5 decompression via archive_read_data() in libarchive
A flaw was identified in the RAR5 archive decompression logic of the libarchive library, specifically within the archive_read_data() processing path. When a specially crafted RAR5 archive is processed, the decompression routine may enter a state where internal logic prevents forward progress. This condition results in an infinite loop that continuously consumes CPU resources. Because the archive passes checksum validation and appears structurally valid, affected applications cannot detect the issue before processing. This can allow attackers to cause persistent denial-of-service conditions in services that automatically process archives.
Vulnerability Analysis
CVE-2026-4111 can be exploited with network access, and does not require authorization privileges or user interaction. This vulnerability is considered to have a low attack complexity. The potential impact of an exploit of this vulnerability is considered to have no impact on confidentiality and integrity, and a high impact on availability.
Timeline
Reported to Red Hat.
Made public.
Weakness Type
What is an Infinite Loop Vulnerability?
The program contains an iteration or loop with an exit condition that cannot be reached, i.e., an infinite loop. If the loop can be influenced by an attacker, this weakness could allow attackers to consume excessive resources such as CPU or memory.
CVE-2026-4111 has been classified to as an Infinite Loop vulnerability or weakness.
Products Associated with CVE-2026-4111
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