Red Hat Enterprise Linux libarchive archive_entry_copy_mac_metadata use after free

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability marked as problematic has been reported in Red Hat Enterprise Linux. This vulnerability affects the function archive_entry_copy_mac_metadata of the component libarchive. The manipulation leads to use after free. This vulnerability is listed as CVE-2026-17591. The attack must be carried out locally. There is no available exploit.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in Red Hat Enterprise Linux (the affected version is unknown). It has been rated as problematic. This issue affects the function archive_entry_copy_mac_metadata of the component libarchive. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a use after free vulnerability. Using CWE to declare the problem leads to CWE-416. Referencing memory after it has been freed can cause a program to crash, use unexpected values, or execute code. Impacted is confidentiality, integrity, and availability. The summary by CVE is:

A flaw was found in libarchive. An attacker can cause a Denial of Service (DoS) or potential information disclosure due to a use-after-free vulnerability, which occurs when a program reads memory that has already been released. This issue arises when the archive_entry_copy_mac_metadata() function deallocates an internal buffer before completing a data copy. An attacker who can supply input to an application utilizing this function can trigger the flaw to crash the application or read uninitialized memory data.

It is possible to read the advisory at access.redhat.com. The identification of this vulnerability is CVE-2026-17591 since 07/27/2026. The exploitation is known to be easy. Attacking locally is a requirement. It demands that the victim is doing some kind of user interaction. Technical details of the vulnerability are known, but there is no available exploit. The pricing for an exploit might be around USD $5k-$25k at the moment (estimation calculated on 10/17/2026).

There is no information about possible countermeasures known. It may be suggested to replace the affected object with an alternative product.

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Productinfo

Type

• Operating System

Vendor

• Red Hat

Name

• Enterprise Linux

License

• commercial

Website

• Vendor: https://www.redhat.com/

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