CVE-2026-14164VulnerabilityPublished 10 Aug 2026Updated 31 Oct 2026

Red Hat Security Advisory: libarchive security update

Affects Red Hat libarchiveSource GCVE Database

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Authoritative record:CVE-2026-14164· High 7.5

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 7.5 High.

Data as of 31 Oct 2026, 20:20 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

7.5High

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	7.5

EPSS: 0.7% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 56% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.

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

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

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

Attack Vector: Network: The vulnerable component is bound to the network stack and the set of possible attackers extends beyond the other options listed, up to and including the entire Internet. Such a vulnerability is often termed 'remotely exploitable' and can be thought of as an attack being exploitable at the protocol level one or more network hops away (e.g., across one or more routers).
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: None: There is no loss of confidentiality within the impacted component.
Integrity: None: There is no loss of integrity within the impacted component.
Availability: High: There is total loss of availability, resulting in the attacker being able to fully deny access to resources in the impacted component; this loss is either sustained (while the attacker continues to deliver the attack) or persistent (the condition persists even after the attack has completed). Alternatively, the attacker has the ability to deny some availability, but the loss of availability presents a direct, serious consequence to the impacted component (e.g., the attacker cannot disrupt existing connections, but can prevent new connections; the attacker can repeatedly exploit a vulnerability that, in each instance of a successful attack, leaks a only small amount of memory, but after repeated exploitation causes a service to become completely unavailable).

Definitions: FIRST CVSS v3.1 specification.

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 30 Jun 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 31 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 Enterprise Linux 10libarchive	Affected–	Fixed in–
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10.0 Extended Update Supportlibarchive	Affected–	Fixed in–
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9libarchive	Affected–	Fixed in–
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9.2 Update Services for SAP Solutionslibarchive	Affected–	Fixed in–
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9.4 Update Services for SAP Solutionslibarchive	Affected–	Fixed in–
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9.6 Extended Update Supportlibarchive	Affected–	Fixed in–

AI-suggested

Red Hat has released updated libarchive packages for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 and its variants to fix this vulnerability. Users should apply the provided security update as per Red Hat's advisory instructions (https://access.redhat.com/articles/11258). No additional mitigation steps are indicated beyond applying the official patch.

Description

A double-free vulnerability (CVE-2026-14164) exists in the libarchive library's RAR5 decompression logic due to a dangling filtered_buf pointer in the init_unpack() function. Libarchive is widely used for handling various archive formats, including GNU tar and ISO 9660 images, and is integrated into utilities like bsdtar and python-libarchive bindings. Red Hat has issued a security advisory rating this vulnerability as moderate impact and has released updates for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 to address the issue.

Impact

The vulnerability can cause a double-free condition during RAR5 archive decompression, which may result in memory corruption or program crashes. The advisory rates the security impact as moderate. There is no indication of known exploitation in the wild at this time.

Summary

The libarchive library contains a double-free vulnerability in its RAR5 decompression logic caused by a dangling filtered_buf pointer in the init_unpack() function. This flaw could potentially lead to memory corruption or application crashes when processing crafted RAR5 archives. The vulnerability affects multiple Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 variants and related architectures. Red Hat has published a security advisory (RHSA-2026:52674) and provided updated libarchive packages to fix this issue. Users are directed to apply the update as detailed in Red Hat's advisory article.

CWE-415Double Free (opens in a new tab)
Variant weaknessLikelihood of exploit: High
The product calls free() twice on the same memory address.
Architecture and Design
Choose a language that provides automatic memory management.
Implementation
Ensure that each allocation is freed only once. After freeing a chunk, set the pointer to NULL to ensure the pointer cannot be freed again. In complicated error conditions, be sure that clean-up routines respect the state of allocation properly.
Implementation
Use a static analysis tool to find double free instances.
OWASP Cheat Sheets
XML Security (opens in a new tab)
Mass Assignment (opens in a new tab)
OWASP ASVS 4.0.3
V13.3.1 (opens in a new tab)
V5.1.4 (opens in a new tab)
V5.1.3 (opens in a new tab)
From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).

References

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 31 Oct 2026, 17:35 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-415

Technical details

References

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