VulnerabilityPublished 29 Sep 2026Updated 5 Nov 2026

CVE-2026-102474: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 · Out-of-bounds Write

Affects Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6Source CVE Database V5

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Not known to be exploited · CVSS 4.0 Medium.

Data as of 12 Nov 2026, 23:24 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

4.0Medium

How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.

Thin evidence

One scorer or none

CVSS scores by source
CNA (redhat)	CVSS 3.1	4.0

EPSS: 0.1% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 1% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.

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

Attack Vector: Local
Attack Complexity: Low
Privileges Required: None
User Interaction: None
Scope: Unchanged
Confidentiality: None
Integrity: Low
Availability: None

Bold values are the worst case: easiest to exploit or largest impact.

Attack Vector: Local: The vulnerable component is not bound to the network stack and the attacker’s path is via read/write/execute capabilities. Either: the attacker exploits the vulnerability by accessing the target system locally (e.g., keyboard, console), or remotely (e.g., SSH); or the attacker relies on User Interaction by another person to perform actions required to exploit the vulnerability (e.g., tricking a legitimate user into opening a malicious document).
Attack Complexity: Low: Specialized access conditions or extenuating circumstances do not exist. An attacker can expect repeatable success against the vulnerable component.
Privileges Required: None: The attacker is unauthorized prior to attack, and therefore does not require any access to settings or files to carry out an attack.
User Interaction: None: The vulnerable system can be exploited without any interaction from any user.
Scope: Unchanged: An exploited vulnerability can only affect resources managed by the same security authority. In this case, the vulnerable component and the impacted component are either the same, or both are managed by the same security authority.
Confidentiality: None: There is no loss of confidentiality within the impacted component.
Integrity: Low: Modification of data is possible, but the attacker does not have control over the consequence of a modification, or the amount of modification is limited. The data modification does not have a direct, serious impact on the impacted component.
Availability: None: There is no impact to availability within the impacted component.

Definitions: FIRST CVSS v3.1 specification.

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 29 Sep 2026
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponized: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: no evidence on record.
Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by Mirage: no evidence on record.
No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors

A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 13 Nov 2026.

Disclosed: The CVE record is public on cve.org. Its publication is t = 0.
Detectable: A public nuclei template can find exposed instances, for defenders and attackers alike.
Weaponized: A Metasploit exploit module or Exploit-DB entry exists (Metasploit scanner modules do not count), or CISA SSVC or the CVSS exploit maturity reports a public proof of concept.
Exploited in the wild: CISA KEV lists it, CISA SSVC rates exploitation active, or a source reports attacks.
Observed by OffSeq Mirage: OffSeq Mirage honeypot sensors recorded attack traffic for this CVE, or found exposed hosts without attack traffic.

Moments are spaced evenly, not to scale; a dashed line marks a gap of six months or more. Deltas count from t = 0. Sources that give only a date (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, or a time of exactly 00:00Z) read “same day” rather than hours. Metasploit modules carry the flaw’s disclosure date, not their release date, and nuclei templates carry no date, so both appear above but not on the timeline.

What to do

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6dash	Affected–	Fixed in–

AI-suggested

No practical runtime mitigation is available in the shipped build. Users should avoid passing untrusted data into dash printf, echo %b, or dash -c as a positional argument. The definitive fix involves increasing the byte reservation in the dash source code at the printf call sites. Monitor Red Hat advisories for the release of an official patch and apply it once available.

Description

CVE-2026-102474 is a local vulnerability in the dash shell's printf builtin on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6. The flaw involves an out-of-bounds write due to insufficient byte reservation when processing Unicode \u or \U escape sequences. Exploitation requires local access and supplying crafted Unicode escapes to dash printf or echo %b. The vulnerability can cause heap memory corruption but does not lead to privilege escalation under normal conditions. Dash is not the default system shell in Red Hat Enterprise Linux, limiting exposure. No practical runtime mitigation exists other than avoiding passing untrusted data to the vulnerable functions. A fix involves increasing the byte reservation in the code, but no patch status is explicitly stated in the advisory.

Impact

The vulnerability allows a local user to cause out-of-bounds heap memory writes by supplying crafted Unicode escape sequences to dash's printf builtin or echo %b. This can lead to memory corruption, potentially causing unexpected behavior or crashes. However, under standard operating conditions, it does not result in privilege escalation. The impact is limited by the requirement for local access and the fact that dash is not the default system shell in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6, reducing exposure.

Summary

This vulnerability in dash's printf builtin occurs because it reserves only four bytes before converting Unicode \u or \U escapes, while the multi-byte token may require five or six bytes. A local user who can supply such escapes to dash printf or echo %b, including via dash -c and positional arguments, can write one or two bytes beyond the reserved space, causing out-of-bounds heap memory corruption. The flaw is rated moderate severity due to the requirement for local access and crafted input. In Red Hat Enterprise Linux, dash is not the default shell, restricting the blast radius. The vulnerability does not directly lead to privilege escalation. The vendor advisory notes no practical runtime mitigation other than avoiding untrusted input to these dash functions. The fix involves increasing the reservation size at the printf call sites, but this fix is not confirmed as released in the advisory.

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 6 Nov 2026, 13:16 UTC

Technical details

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