NULL Pointer Deref in libarchive ACL Parsing (archive_acl_from_text_nl)
CVE-2026-5745 Published on April 7, 2026

Libarchive: a null pointer dereference vulnerability exists in the acl parser of libarchive
A flaw was found in libarchive. A NULL pointer dereference vulnerability exists in the ACL parsing logic, specifically within the archive_acl_from_text_nl() function. When processing a malformed ACL string (such as a bare "d" or "default" tag without subsequent fields), the function fails to perform adequate validation before advancing the pointer. An attacker can exploit this by providing a maliciously crafted archive, causing an application utilizing the libarchive API (such as bsdtar) to crash, resulting in a Denial of Service (DoS).

NVD

Vulnerability Analysis

CVE-2026-5745 can be exploited with local system access, requires 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.

Attack Vector:
LOCAL
Attack Complexity:
LOW
Privileges Required:
NONE
User Interaction:
REQUIRED
Scope:
UNCHANGED
Confidentiality Impact:
NONE
Integrity Impact:
NONE
Availability Impact:
HIGH

Timeline

Reported to Red Hat.

Made public.

Weakness Type

NULL Pointer Dereference

A NULL pointer dereference occurs when the application dereferences a pointer that it expects to be valid, but is NULL, typically causing a crash or exit. NULL pointer dereference issues can occur through a number of flaws, including race conditions, and simple programming omissions.


Products Associated with CVE-2026-5745

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Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)
 
Red Hat Openshift
 
Red Hat Hummingbird
 

Affected Versions

Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9: Red Hat Hardened Images: Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4:

Exploit Probability

EPSS
0.02%
Percentile
4.87%

EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) scores estimate the probability that a vulnerability will be exploited in the wild within the next 30 days. The percentile shows you how this score compares to all other vulnerabilities.