VulnerabilityPublished 29 Oct 2026

CVE-2026-85498: Red Hat Hardened Images · Out-of-bounds Read

Affects Red Hat Hardened ImagesSource CVE Database V5

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Not known to be exploited · CVSS 3.5 Low.

Data as of 29 Oct 2026, 10:48 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

3.5Low

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	3.5

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

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

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

Attack Vector: Adjacent: The vulnerable component is bound to the network stack, but the attack is limited at the protocol level to a logically adjacent topology. This can mean an attack must be launched from the same shared physical (e.g., Bluetooth or IEEE 802.11) or logical (e.g., local IP subnet) network, or from within a secure or otherwise limited administrative domain (e.g., MPLS, secure VPN to an administrative network zone).
Attack Complexity: Low: Specialized access conditions or extenuating circumstances do not exist. An attacker can expect repeatable success against the vulnerable component.
Privileges Required: Low: The attacker is authorized with (i.e., requires) privileges that provide basic user capabilities that could normally affect only settings and files owned by a user. Alternatively, an attacker with Low privileges may have the ability to cause an impact only to non-sensitive resources.
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: 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 29 Oct 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 29 Oct 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 Hardened Imagespolkit-main	Affected–	Fixed in–
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10polkit	Affected–	Fixed in–
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10polkit-pkla-compat	Affected–	Fixed in–
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6polkit	Affected–	Fixed in–
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6polkit-gnome	Affected–	Fixed in–
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7polkit	Affected–	Fixed in–

AI-suggested

A security update for polkit RPMs in Red Hat Hardened Images is available and should be applied to remediate this vulnerability. The update includes polkit version 127-5.1.hum1 for relevant architectures. No other mitigations are currently available or meet Red Hat's criteria. Users should apply the official Red Hat update as detailed in the advisory at https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:66287.

Description

CVE-2026-85498 is a low-severity vulnerability in polkit within Red Hat Hardened Images. It involves an arithmetic error triggered by input starting with a null byte, causing an integer underflow during buffer length calculation and resulting in an out-of-bounds memory read. This flaw can lead to an application crash and a denial of service (DoS) but does not affect confidentiality or integrity.

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What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 29 Oct 2026, 09:28 UTC

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