CVE-2026-89088

Received Received - Intake

Heap-based Buffer Overflow in Parted FAT16 Resizing

Publication date: 2026-10-16

Last updated on: 2026-10-16

Assigner: redhat-SADP

Description

A flaw was found in parted. A heap-based buffer overflow exists in libparted's file system resizing logic when handling FAT16 volumes. By convincing a user or administrator to resize a specially crafted FAT16 file system image with malformed directory metadata, an attacker can trigger an oversized read into a fixed-size memory buffer. This issue causes memory corruption, resulting in an application crash and a denial of service (DoS).

CVSS Scores

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Meta Information

Published

2026-10-16

Last Modified

2026-10-16

Generated

2026-10-17

AI Q&A

2026-10-17

EPSS Evaluated

N/A

NVD

CVE-2026-89088

EUVD

EUVD-2026-103203

Affected Vendors & Products

Vendor	Product	Version / Range
Red	Hat	Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 *
Red	Hat	Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 *
Red	Hat	Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 *
Red	Hat	Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 *

Helpful Resources

Exploitability

CWE

KEV

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

Attack-Flow Graph

Executive Summary

This vulnerability is a heap-based buffer overflow in the parted tool's file system resizing logic. It occurs when handling FAT16 volumes with malformed directory metadata. An attacker can exploit this by tricking a user or admin into resizing a specially crafted FAT16 file system image, causing an oversized read into a fixed-size memory buffer. This leads to memory corruption, application crashes, and denial of service.

Detection Guidance

This vulnerability is specific to the parted tool and FAT16 file system resizing. Detection requires checking if parted is installed and if FAT16 volumes are being resized. No direct network detection commands are available. Inspect system logs for crashes during file system operations or monitor for application failures when using parted.

Impact Analysis

If you use parted to resize FAT16 file systems, an attacker could exploit this flaw to crash the application, causing a denial of service. This may disrupt operations that rely on file system resizing, such as disk management tasks.

Compliance Impact

This vulnerability causes a denial of service via application crash due to memory corruption. It does not directly impact data confidentiality or integrity but may disrupt system availability. Compliance impact depends on system role; for example, HIPAA requires availability safeguards, while GDPR focuses on data protection. Disruptions could affect compliance if systems fail to meet uptime requirements.

Mitigation Strategies

Avoid using parted to resize FAT16 volumes until an update is available. If resizing is necessary, use alternative tools or methods. Monitor system logs for crashes related to parted or file system operations. Apply patches from the parted maintainers once released.

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