OOB Read in GNU coreutils uniq via -w option
CVE-2026-56391 Published on July 24, 2026
Out‑of‑bounds Read in GNU coreutils
GNU coreutils uniq is vulnerable to an outofbounds 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.
Weakness Type
Out-of-bounds Read
The software reads data past the end, or before the beginning, of the intended buffer. Typically, this can allow attackers to read sensitive information from other memory locations or cause a crash. A crash can occur when the code reads a variable amount of data and assumes that a sentinel exists to stop the read operation, such as a NUL in a string. The expected sentinel might not be located in the out-of-bounds memory, causing excessive data to be read, leading to a segmentation fault or a buffer overflow. The software may modify an index or perform pointer arithmetic that references a memory location that is outside of the boundaries of the buffer. A subsequent read operation then produces undefined or unexpected results.
Products Associated with CVE-2026-56391
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Affected Versions
GNU coreutils:- Version 9.5, <= 9.11 is affected.