CVE-2026-18739
Received Received - Intake

Popt Library Off-by-One Error Leading to Arbitrary Code Execution

Vulnerability report for CVE-2026-18739, including description, CVSS score, EPSS score, affected products, exploitability, helpful resources, and attack-flow context.

Publication date: 2026-08-04

Last updated on: 2026-08-04

Assigner: Red Hat, Inc.

Description

A flaw was found in popt, a command-line option parsing library. An off-by-one error in the poptStuffArgs function, when repeatedly called by a host application or through deep alias nesting, can lead to corruption of internal program data. This corruption could potentially enable a local attacker to execute arbitrary code if the host application then unsafely processes the altered data.

CVSS Scores

EPSS Scores

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Meta Information

Published
2026-08-04
Last Modified
2026-08-04
Generated
2026-08-04
AI Q&A
2026-08-04
EPSS Evaluated
N/A
NVD
EUVD

Affected Vendors & Products

Currently, no data is known.

Helpful Resources

Exploitability

CWE
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KEV
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CWE ID Description
CWE-787 The product writes data past the end, or before the beginning, of the intended buffer.

Attack-Flow Graph

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Executive Summary

This vulnerability is an off-by-one error in the popt library's poptStuffArgs function. When called repeatedly or through deep alias nesting, it corrupts internal program data. This could allow a local attacker to execute arbitrary code if the host application processes the altered data unsafely.

Impact Analysis

If you use software that relies on the popt library, a local attacker could exploit this flaw to execute arbitrary code on your system. This could lead to unauthorized access, data theft, or system compromise, depending on the privileges of the affected application.

Mitigation Strategies

Update the popt library to the latest patched version immediately. Monitor applications using popt for unusual behavior or crashes that may indicate exploitation attempts. Restrict local user access to prevent potential arbitrary code execution.

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