CVE-2026-2243VulnerabilityPublished 19 Feb 2026Updated 31 Aug 2026

CVE-2026-2243: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 · Out-of-bounds Read

Affects Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10Source CVE Database V5

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 5.1 Medium.

Data as of 25 Oct 2026, 19:02 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

5.1Medium

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

EPSS: 0.1% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 2% 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:L/I:N/A:L

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

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: Low: There is some loss of confidentiality. Access to some restricted information is obtained, but the attacker does not have control over what information is obtained, or the amount or kind of loss is limited. The information disclosure does not cause a direct, serious loss to the impacted component.
Integrity: None: There is no loss of integrity within the impacted component.
Availability: Low: Performance is reduced or there are interruptions in resource availability. Even if repeated exploitation of the vulnerability is possible, the attacker does not have the ability to completely deny service to legitimate users. The resources in the impacted component are either partially available all of the time, or fully available only some of the time, but overall there is no direct, serious consequence to the impacted component.

Definitions: FIRST CVSS v3.1 specification.

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 19 Feb 2026
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponised: 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 2026-10-25.

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.
Weaponised: Public exploit code exists in Metasploit or Exploit-DB, or CISA SSVC 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 HatRed Hat Enterprise Linux 10	Affected–	Fixed in–
Red HatRed Hat Enterprise Linux 6	Affected–	Fixed in–
Red HatRed Hat Enterprise Linux 7	Affected–	Fixed in–
Red HatRed Hat Enterprise Linux 8	Affected–	Fixed in–
Red HatRed Hat Enterprise Linux 9	Affected–	Fixed in–
Red HatRed Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4	Affected–	Fixed in–

AI-suggested

To mitigate CVE-2026-2243, organizations should: 1) Monitor for and apply official patches or updates from Red Hat and QEMU as soon as they become available. 2) Restrict local access to systems running QEMU to trusted users only, minimizing insider threat risks. 3) Avoid using untrusted or unverified VMDK images, especially those sourced externally or from unknown origins. 4) Implement strict file integrity monitoring and scanning of virtual disk images before deployment. 5) Employ virtualization security best practices such as isolating virtual machines and limiting privileges of users managing virtual environments. 6) Monitor system logs and QEMU behavior for anomalies indicative of exploitation attempts. 7) Consider alternative virtual disk formats if feasible, pending patch availability.

Description

A flaw was found in QEMU. A specially crafted VMDK image could trigger an out-of-bounds read vulnerability, potentially leading to a 12-byte leak of sensitive information or a denial of service condition (DoS).

Impact

Organizations running Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 with QEMU virtualization are at risk of sensitive information leakage and service disruption. The 12-byte data leak, while small, could potentially expose critical information depending on memory layout and usage, aiding further attacks. The denial of service aspect can interrupt critical virtualized workloads, impacting business continuity and operational availability. Since exploitation requires local access, insider threats or compromised accounts pose the greatest risk. The vulnerability could affect cloud service providers, enterprises with private clouds, and development environments relying on QEMU and VMDK images. Although no remote exploitation is indicated, the impact on confidentiality and availability can still be significant in sensitive or high-availability environments.

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 7 Mar 2026, 21:23 UTC

Technical details

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