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VulnerabilityPublished

CVE-2026-56288: GNU patch is vulnerable to a NULL pointer dereference when processing a specially crafted

Affects patchSource GCVE Database

0

Mentioned vulnerabilities

Authoritative record:CVE-2026-56288· Medium 4.6

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 4.6 Medium.

Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 09:16 UTC

CVSS 4.0 base score
4.6Medium
How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.
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:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:A/VC:N/VI:N/VA:L/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N

Exploitation evidence

  1. Disclosed: evidence found.

    CVE published 9 Jul 2026

  2. Detectable: no evidence on record.

    No public nuclei template indexed

  3. Weaponised: no evidence on record.

    No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB

  4. Exploited in the wild: no evidence on record.

    Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation

  5. Observed by OffSeq 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 26 Oct 2026.

What to do

Affected software

ProductAffectedFixed in
Ubuntu:Pro:14.04:LTSpatchpkg:deb/ubuntu/patch?arch=source&distro=esm-infra-legacy/trustyOther threatsAffected
  • =2.7.1-3
  • =2.7.1-4
  • =2.7.1-4ubuntu1
  • =2.7.1-4ubuntu2
  • =2.7.1-4ubuntu2.3
  • =2.7.1-4ubuntu2.4
  • =2.7.1-4ubuntu2.4+esm1
Fixed in–
Ubuntu:16.04:LTSpatchpkg:deb/ubuntu/patch?arch=source&distro=xenialOther threatsAffected
  • =2.7.5-1
  • =2.7.5-1ubuntu0.16.04.1
  • =2.7.5-1ubuntu0.16.04.2
Fixed in–
Ubuntu:18.04:LTSpatchpkg:deb/ubuntu/patch?arch=source&distro=bionicOther threatsAffected
  • =2.7.5-1build1
  • =2.7.6-1
  • =2.7.6-2ubuntu1
  • =2.7.6-2ubuntu1.1
Fixed in–
Ubuntu:20.04:LTSpatchpkg:deb/ubuntu/patch?arch=source&distro=focalOther threatsAffected
  • =2.7.6-6
Fixed in–
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSpatchpkg:deb/ubuntu/patch?arch=source&distro=jammyOther threatsAffected
  • =2.7.6-7
  • =2.7.6-7build1
  • =2.7.6-7build2
Fixed in–
Ubuntu:24.04:LTSpatchpkg:deb/ubuntu/patch?arch=source&distro=nobleOther threatsAffected
  • =2.7.6-7build2
  • =2.7.6-7build3
Fixed in–
Ubuntu:25.10patchpkg:deb/ubuntu/patch?arch=source&distro=questingOther threatsAffected
  • =2.7.6-7build3
  • =2.8-1
  • =2.8-2
Fixed in–
Ubuntu:26.04:LTSpatchpkg:deb/ubuntu/patch?arch=source&distro=resoluteOther threatsAffected
  • =2.8-2
  • =2.8-2build1
Fixed in–
Ubuntu:26.10patchpkg:deb/ubuntu/patch?arch=source&distro=stonkingOther threatsAffected
  • =2.8-2build1
Fixed in–

Check your own hosts for these packages with threat-finder (opens in a new tab), our free open-source scanner.

AI-suggested

A security update addressing these vulnerabilities has been released. Users should apply the available patches from their SUSE or Ubuntu distribution to remediate these issues.

Description

Two vulnerabilities were identified in the patch utility affecting multiple specific versions distributed by SUSE and Ubuntu. CVE-2026-56288 involves a crafted unified-diff patch file that can cause a null pointer dereference. CVE-2026-56289 involves improper validation of hunk line offsets that can lead to denial of service. The severity of these vulnerabilities is assessed as low.

References

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