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CVE-2026-40468· NVD / CVE Program· CNA CERT-PL

Heap buffer overflow in gawk

Integer overflow vulnerability has been found in "builtin.c" program file of gawk. This issue may lead to memory exhaustion on the hosting operating system and could be used to overwrite gawk heap metadata and objects with attacker-controlled bytes. It affects gawk in versions 5.4.0 and below.

LowCVSS 2.1 · v4.0—No exploit Fix available
Published
Jul 13, 2026
Updated
Jul 13, 2026
EPSS
0.4% · 26th percentile
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Report tools

JSON

Action score

8

Monitor

Low priority for now.

CVSS
8 / 40 · 2.1 / 10
CISA KEV
0 / 30 · Not listed
EPSS
0 / 30 · 0.4%

CISA SSVC decision

Exploitation
none
Automatable
no
Technical impact
partial

Vulnrichment: CISA's decision-tree inputs.

CNA vs NVD score

NVD
—
CNA · CERT-PL
2.1
NVD has not scored this yet; the score shown is the CNA’s.

CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:P/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:L/VA:L/SC:N/SI:N/SA:L

The score given by the assigning authority versus NVD’s independent score. A gap means the severity is contested.

Affected systems

VendorProduct
fossiesgawk

Affected versions

NVD version ranges (for catalog products). Add the product to your stack with a version and matching uses these.

  • fossies gawkup to 5.4.0 inclusive

Versions reported by the vendor

Affected version ranges reported by the assigning authority (CERT-PL). Independent of NVD's CPE analysis and usually ahead of it.

  • GNU gawk

    • up to and including 5.4.0affected · semver

Package-level exposure

OSV and GitHub Advisory data: ecosystem, package and range. SBOM matching uses this table.

EcosystemPackageAffected rangeFix
Debian:12gawkall versions—
openSUSE:Leap 16.0gawkbefore 5.3.2-160000.3.15.3.2-160000.3.1
Red Hat:hummingbird:1gawkbefore 0:5.4.1-1.hum10:5.4.1-1.hum1
Red Hat:hummingbird:1gawkbefore 0:5.4.0-3.1.hum10:5.4.0-3.1.hum1
Red Hat:hummingbird:1gawk-docbefore 0:5.4.0-3.1.hum10:5.4.0-3.1.hum1
Red Hat:hummingbird:1gawk-docbefore 0:5.4.1-1.hum10:5.4.1-1.hum1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Micro 5.3gawkbefore 4.2.1-150000.3.6.14.2.1-150000.3.6.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server LTSS Extended Security 12 SP5gawkbefore 4.1.0-5.6.14.1.0-5.6.1
SUSE:Linux Micro 6.0gawkbefore 5.3.0-2.15.3.0-2.1
SUSE:Linux Micro 6.2gawkbefore 5.3.2-160000.3.15.3.2-160000.3.1

Same product

fossies: all records

Other highest-scoring records for the same primary product.

Remediation

Which version to upgrade to

Fix versions compiled from the vendor, package registries and Microsoft. Verify the vendor's note before upgrading.

Product / packageFixed versionSource
azl3 gawk 5.2.2-1 on Azure Linux 3.05.2.2-2 · CBL-Mariner ReleasesMicrosoft (MSRC)
opensuse:gawk5.3.2-160000.3.1 · openSUSE:Leap 16.0Package registry (OSV)
red hat:gawk0:5.4.0-3.1.hum1 · Red Hat:hummingbird:1Package registry (OSV)
red hat:gawk-doc0:5.4.0-3.1.hum1 · Red Hat:hummingbird:1Package registry (OSV)
suse:gawk5.3.2-160000.3.1 · SUSE:Linux Micro 6.2Package registry (OSV)

Exploit status

No known public exploit

No public exploit has been observed yet. That doesn't mean you're safe, only that the bar is a little higher.

Research context

For pentesters and researchers: attack profile, score disagreement, timeline, patch commits, credits, variant and chain candidates, bug bounty scope. All derived from existing data; no exploit code.

Timeline

From publication to today: proof of concept, Metasploit module, CISA KEV and fix record. Dates are as reported by the sources.

No dated events beyond publication.

EPSS, last 120 days

FIRST EPSS daily score; only changes of 0.01 or more are recorded (step chart).

Patch and commit links

Commit, PR and diff links among the references. A starting point for patch-diffing and variant hunting; fixes, not exploits.

Credits

All researchers

Finders, reporters and analysts named in the CNA record. Click a name for that researcher’s other records.

Variant candidates

Same product, same weakness class, within 18 months. If the patch missed the root cause, the sibling bug is here.

Chain candidates

An authentication bypass and a privilege-requiring bug in the same product, published close together: combined they may become an unauthenticated path.

—

Bug bounty scope

No known public program.

Source: bounty-targets-data (public HackerOne, Bugcrowd, Intigriti, YesWeHack listings).

Technical details

Attack conditions

  • Someone with local access to the system can trigger it.
  • No account or password is required.
  • No user action is required.
  • No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.

If successful

Confidentiality
Integrity
Availability
Attack vector
Local
Attack complexity
Low
Privileges required
None
User interaction
None
Scope
X

Weakness class (CWE)

CWE-190 · Integer Overflow or Wraparound

CVSS vector

CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:P/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:L/VA:L/SC:N/SI:N/SA:L/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X

nvd-secondary

Attack context

MITRE CAPEC attack patterns and ATT&CK techniques for this weakness class (CWE). A starting point for detection rules and threat hunting.

ATT&CK techniques

—

Noroxi analysis

No Noroxi analysis for this record yet

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Change log

  1. Fix✗ → ✓

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References

Vendor advisories and official records. Exploit/PoC links are deliberately left out.

All records