Red Hat Security Advisory: gawk security update
Affects Red Hat gawkSource GCVE Database
Mentioned vulnerabilities
Not known to be exploited · CVSS 5.1 Medium : upgrade the Debian debian/gawk package to 5.4.1 when convenient.
Data as of 29 Oct 2026, 09:13 UTC
- EPSS
- 0.2% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 11% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.
- Patch
- Available – fixed in 5.4.1
CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:L/SC:N/SI:N/SA:NExploitation evidence
Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 13 Jul 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.
What to do
Upgrade the Debian debian/gawk package to 5.4.1.
Affected software
| Product | Affected | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
| GNUgawk | Affected
| Fixed in– |
Debiandebian/gawkpkg:deb/debian/gawkOther threats | Affected
| Fixed in
|
Check your own hosts for these packages with threat-finder (opens in a new tab), our free open-source scanner.
Description
The gawk packages contain the GNU version of awk, a text processing utility. Awk interprets a special-purpose programming language to do quick and easy text pattern matching and reformatting jobs. Security Fix(es): * gawk: gawk: Memory corruption via integer overflow (CVE-2026-40468) * gawk: Gawk: Buffer overflow in ftype() routine may lead to code execution or denial of service (CVE-2026-40553) * gawk: gawk: Denial of Service due to Use After Free vulnerability in io.c (CVE-2026-40467) For more details about the security issue(s), including the impact, a CVSS score, acknowledgments, and other related information, refer to the CVE page(s) listed in the References section.
References
- access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:73429 (opens in a new tab)
- access.redhat.com/security/updates/classification/ (opens in a new tab)
- bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2499655 (opens in a new tab)
- bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2499657 (opens in a new tab)
- bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2499658 (opens in a new tab)
- security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/advisories/2026/rhsa-2026_73429.json (opens in a new tab)