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Hardened ImagesApplication · Redhat

CVE-2026-6846

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2026-04-22
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 2.46 or later.
See remediation →
81/100
Remediation priority · High
No privileges

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
A flaw was found in binutils. A heap-buffer-overflow vulnerability exists when processing a specially crafted XCOFF (Extended Common Object File Format) object file during linking. A local attacker could trick a user into processing this malicious file, which could lead to arbitrary code execution, allowing the attacker to run unauthorized commands, or cause a denial of service, making the system unavailable.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · moderate confidence

A heap-buffer-overflow vulnerability exists in binutils when processing specially crafted XCOFF (Extended Common Object File Format) object files during the linking phase. The flaw allows a local attacker to trigger the overflow by tricking a user into linking a malicious XCOFF file, potentially leading to arbitrary code execution or denial of service.

MitigationUpdate binutils to the latest version when a patch is released. Avoid processing untrusted or specially crafted XCOFF files until the vulnerability is patched.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
Hardened ImagesApplication
Affected:all versions
Openshift Container PlatformApplication
Affected:= 4.0
Enterprise LinuxOperating system
Affected:= 6.0= 8.0= 9.0= 10.0
BinutilsApplication
Affected:<= 2.46

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
Required
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

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

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify installed binutils version
    Run 'binutils --version' or 'ld -v' to determine the version of binutils installed on the system
    Affected if The installed version is 2.46 or lower, or the version cannot be determined and the system is a listed Red Hat product (RHEL 6.0, 8.0, 9.0, 10.0, Openshift 4.0, or Hardened Images)
  2. Verify XCOFF support is present
    Check if the 'file' command or binutils tools recognize XCOFF format by running 'file <any_xcoff_file>' or checking binutils compilation flags
    Affected if XCOFF support is compiled into the installed binutils (XCOFF is a legacy IBM AIX format, typically present in cross-compilation toolchains)
  3. Locate XCOFF object files in the environment
    Search for files with .xcoff, .o (for XCOFF), or .a extensions that may be XCOFF format using: 'find / -name "*.xcoff" 2>/dev/null' or 'find / -name "*.o" -exec file {} \; | grep -i xcoff'
    Affected if XCOFF object files exist in the environment, especially in directories handling external or untrusted inputs
  4. Monitor for binutils processing XCOFF files
    Use process monitoring (such as 'strace -f' or audit rules) to observe if binutils tools (ld, objdump, ar, nm) are invoked on XCOFF files, or check build/CI logs for XCOFF processing
    Affected if Binutils tools are being used to link or analyze XCOFF files, particularly from untrusted sources

You are affected if binutils version 2.46 or lower is installed and XCOFF object files from untrusted sources are being processed by binutils tools.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to a release after 2.46
Interim mitigation

Update binutils to the latest version when a patch is released. Avoid processing untrusted or specially crafted XCOFF files until the vulnerability is patched.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

Red Hat Enterprise Linux: upgrade to the binutils version specified in the corresponding RHSA (refer to access.redhat.com/security/updates/active)

  1. Check the current binutils version installed: rpm -q binutils
  2. Consult Red Hat Security Advisory RHSA (run: rpm -q --changelog binutils | grep -i 'CVE-2026-6846') to identify the fixed version
  3. For RHEL 8/9/10: sudo dnf update binutils to apply the security fix
  4. For RHEL 6 (if still in support): sudo yum update binutils
  5. Verify the update was applied successfully: rpm -q binutils and confirm the version includes the fix
  6. Rebuild any packages or containers that use the affected binutils version
Caveat Standard update; no expected breaking changes for binutils security patch unless custom linker scripts or build tooling depends on specific behavior

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Hardened Images Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
22.0 hours of engineering $3,860
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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2026-6846 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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