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NVD / CVE Program· CNA GitHub_M

CVE-2026-81879: radare2: Heap out-of-bounds read in radare2 ELF PN_XNUM handling

Noroxi assessment

Priority: Monitor (action score 24/100)

  • The sources we track (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, Metasploit, Nuclei, GitHub) show no public exploit code or exploitation in the wild.
  • Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days: 0.18% (FIRST EPSS).
  • Someone with local access to the system can trigger it. No account or password is required. A user must open a link or visit a page. No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.
  • Fixed version: radareorg radare2 6.2.0.

Low priority for now. Upgrade to radareorg radare2 6.2.0 or later.

Generated automatically from the record's data: CVSS (NVD and CNA), CISA KEV and SSVC, FIRST EPSS, exploit sources, fixed versions. How we calculate it

Primary sources: NVD · CVE.org · FIRST EPSS

radare2 is a UNIX-like reverse engineering framework and command-line toolset. Prior to 6.2.0, radare2's ELF PN_XNUM handling was vulnerable because the ELF parser allocated the program-header array using the resolved PN_XNUM count but several consumers still iterated with the original e_phnum value of 65535. The vulnerability is triggered by processing a crafted ELF file with e_phnum = 0xffff and a much smaller resolved count in shdr[0].sh_info. Consumers iterated beyond the allocated program-header array. This can cause a heap out-of-bounds read and process termination, resulting in denial of service; memory disclosure and code execution have not been demonstrated. This issue is fixed in version 6.2.0.

MediumCVSS 6.1 · v3.1—No exploit Fix available
Published
Sep 22, 2026
Updated
Sep 25, 2026
EPSS
0.1% · 7th percentile

Report tools

JSON

Action score

24

Monitor

Low priority for now.

CVSS
24 / 40 · 6.1 / 10
CISA KEV
0 / 30 · Not listed
EPSS
0 / 30 · 0.1%

CISA SSVC decision

Exploitation
proof of concept
Automatable
no
Technical impact
partial

Vulnrichment: CISA's decision-tree inputs.

CNA vs NVD score

NVD
6.1
CNA · GitHub_M
5.5
0.6 point gap

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

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

Get told when this record changes

  • Not in KEV: no record of exploitation in the wild
  • No public exploit code on record
  • A fix has been released

If any of these changes, we'll tell you in the daily email digest.

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When you'll hear from us

  • when it enters CISA KEV
  • when exploit code appears or is weaponized
  • when the record is updated (including a fixed version)
  • when EPSS rises 20 points in a week

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Noroxi analysis

What does it mean in your environment?

The assessment above is generated automatically from the record's data; it doesn't know your environment. Our team verifies on your systems whether this vulnerability is actually exploitable and which mitigation is enough.

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Affected systems

Is your version affected?

Pick the product and type the version you run. It's compared with this record's version ranges in your browser; the version isn't sent anywhere.

VendorProduct
radareradare2

Affected versions

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

  • radare radare2before 6.2.0

Versions reported by the vendor

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

  • radareorg radare2

    • < 6.2.0affected

Package-level exposure

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

EcosystemPackageAffected rangeFix
openSUSE:Leap 16.0radare2before 6.2.2-bp160.1.16.2.2-bp160.1.1

Same product

radare: all records

Other highest-scoring records for the same primary product.

  • CVE-2025-1864Buffer Overflow and Potential Code Execution in Radare2
    40Plan
  • CVE-2025-1744Out-of-bounds Write in radare2
    40Plan
  • CVE-2024-29646Buffer Overflow vulnerability in radarorg radare2 v.5.8.8 allows an attacker to execute arbitrary code via the name, type, or group fields.
    39Monitor

Published before and after this one in the same product

  • ← EarlierCVE-2026-14789Jul 6, 2026 · radareorg radare2 Memory64ListStream mdmp.c stack-based overflow
    7Monitor
  • ← EarlierCVE-2026-81878Sep 22, 2026 · radare2: Integer overflow causes heap out-of-bounds write in radare2 PYC parser
    22Monitor
  • Later →CVE-2026-81880Sep 22, 2026 · radare2: Uncontrolled resource consumption in radare2 PEF loader
    22Monitor

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
radareorg radare26.2.0 · descriptionVendor (CNA)
opensuse:radare26.2.2-bp160.1.1 · openSUSE:Leap 16.0Package 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.

No credits in the CNA record.

Variant candidates

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

  • CVE-2026-818820 days apartradare2: Missing string termination causes heap out-of-bounds read in radare2 bplist parser
    24Monitor
  • CVE-2026-818810 days apartradare2: Heap out-of-bounds read in radare2 Mach-O Swift metadata parser
    17Monitor
  • CVE-2026-818830 days apartradare2: Out-of-bounds Read at the end of string in the LUA 5.3 bytecode
    13Monitor
  • CVE-2026-818840 days apartradare2: Heap out-of-bounds read in radare2 Mach-O LC_DATA_IN_CODE parser
    13Monitor

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.
  • A user must open a link or visit a page.
  • No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.

If successful

Confidentiality
low · data can be read
Integrity
none
Availability
high · the service can be disrupted
Attack vector
Local
Attack complexity
Low
Privileges required
None
User interaction
Required
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality impact
Low
Integrity impact
None
Availability impact
High

Weakness class (CWE)

CWE-125 · Out-of-bounds Read

CVSS vector

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:H

nvd-primary

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

—

Change log

  1. Fix✗ → ✓

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References

Show all references (3 more)

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

All records