GVFS SFTP Backend Buffer Overflow in read_reply()
CVE-2026-84268 Published on September 1, 2026

Gvfs: sftp: heap-based buffer overflow in read_reply()
A flaw was found in the SFTP backend in gvfs. When mounting a share and reading a file, a malicious SFTP server can cause read_reply() to process a length that exceeds the size requested by the client. The function does not verify the server-provided length against the allocated buffer size, causing the operation to write past the intended boundaries. This issue allows a malicious server to corrupt adjacent heap memory in the gvfsd-sftp process, resulting in a denial of service as the process aborts upon detecting the heap corruption or potentially allowing arbitrary code execution.

Vendor Advisory Vendor Advisory Vendor Advisory NVD

Vulnerability Analysis

CVE-2026-84268 is exploitable with network 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 be very high.

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

Timeline

Reported to Red Hat.

Made public.

Weakness Type

Heap-based Buffer Overflow

A heap overflow condition is a buffer overflow, where the buffer that can be overwritten is allocated in the heap portion of memory, generally meaning that the buffer was allocated using a routine such as malloc().


Products Associated with CVE-2026-84268

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Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)
 
Canonical Ubuntu Linux
 

Affected Versions

GNOME gvfs: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7: