CVE-2026-5745: NULL Pointer Dereference in Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10
A flaw was found in libarchive. A NULL pointer dereference vulnerability exists in the ACL parsing logic, specifically within the archive_acl_from_text_nl() function. When processing a malformed ACL string (such as a bare "d" or "default" tag without subsequent fields), the function fails to perform adequate validation before advancing the pointer. An attacker can exploit this by providing a maliciously crafted archive, causing an application utilizing the libarchive API (such as bsdtar) to crash, resulting in a Denial of Service (DoS).
AI Analysis
Technical Summary
This vulnerability exists in the libarchive library used by Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10. Specifically, the archive_acl_from_text_nl() function fails to validate malformed ACL strings before dereferencing pointers, leading to a NULL pointer dereference. An attacker can trigger this by supplying a maliciously crafted archive containing malformed ACL data, causing applications that use libarchive APIs to crash. The impact is limited to denial of service with no confidentiality or integrity effects. The CVSS 3.1 base score is 5.5 (medium severity), reflecting local attack vector, low complexity, no privileges required, user interaction required, and impact limited to availability.
Potential Impact
Successful exploitation causes a denial of service by crashing applications that utilize libarchive, such as bsdtar, when processing maliciously crafted archives with malformed ACL strings. There is no impact on confidentiality or integrity. No known active exploits have been reported.
Mitigation Recommendations
Patch status is not yet confirmed — check the Red Hat advisory at https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-5745 for current remediation guidance. Until an official fix is available, avoid processing untrusted or malformed archive files that could trigger this vulnerability.
CVE-2026-5745: NULL Pointer Dereference in Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10
Description
A flaw was found in libarchive. A NULL pointer dereference vulnerability exists in the ACL parsing logic, specifically within the archive_acl_from_text_nl() function. When processing a malformed ACL string (such as a bare "d" or "default" tag without subsequent fields), the function fails to perform adequate validation before advancing the pointer. An attacker can exploit this by providing a maliciously crafted archive, causing an application utilizing the libarchive API (such as bsdtar) to crash, resulting in a Denial of Service (DoS).
AI-Powered Analysis
Machine-generated threat intelligence
Technical Analysis
This vulnerability exists in the libarchive library used by Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10. Specifically, the archive_acl_from_text_nl() function fails to validate malformed ACL strings before dereferencing pointers, leading to a NULL pointer dereference. An attacker can trigger this by supplying a maliciously crafted archive containing malformed ACL data, causing applications that use libarchive APIs to crash. The impact is limited to denial of service with no confidentiality or integrity effects. The CVSS 3.1 base score is 5.5 (medium severity), reflecting local attack vector, low complexity, no privileges required, user interaction required, and impact limited to availability.
Potential Impact
Successful exploitation causes a denial of service by crashing applications that utilize libarchive, such as bsdtar, when processing maliciously crafted archives with malformed ACL strings. There is no impact on confidentiality or integrity. No known active exploits have been reported.
Mitigation Recommendations
Patch status is not yet confirmed — check the Red Hat advisory at https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-5745 for current remediation guidance. Until an official fix is available, avoid processing untrusted or malformed archive files that could trigger this vulnerability.
Technical Details
- Data Version
- 5.2
- Assigner Short Name
- redhat
- Date Reserved
- 2026-04-07T14:32:58.869Z
- Cvss Version
- 3.1
- State
- PUBLISHED
- Remediation Level
- null
- Vendor Advisory Urls
- [{"url":"https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-5745","vendor":"Red Hat"}]
Threat ID: 69d52346aaed68159a2ecada
Added to database: 4/7/2026, 3:31:18 PM
Last enriched: 4/7/2026, 3:47:47 PM
Last updated: 4/7/2026, 6:34:40 PM
Views: 3
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