radare2 is a UNIX-like reverse engineering framework and command-line toolset. Prior to 6.2.0, radare2's ELF PN_XNUM handling was vulnerable because the ELF parser allocated the program-header array using the resolved PN_XNUM count but several consumers still iterated with the original e_phnum value of 65535. The vulnerability is triggered by processing a crafted ELF file with e_phnum = 0xffff and a much smaller resolved count in shdr[0].sh_info. Consumers iterated beyond the allocated program-header array. This can cause a heap out-of-bounds read and process termination, resulting in denial of service; memory disclosure and code execution have not been demonstrated. This issue is fixed in version 6.2.0.
History

Fri, 25 Sep 2026 17:00:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
First Time appeared Radare
Radare radare2
CPEs cpe:2.3:a:radare:radare2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
Vendors & Products Radare
Radare radare2

Wed, 23 Sep 2026 15:30:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Metrics ssvc

{'options': {'Automatable': 'no', 'Exploitation': 'poc', 'Technical Impact': 'partial'}, 'version': '2.0.3'}


Tue, 22 Sep 2026 16:45:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
First Time appeared Radareorg
Radareorg radare2
Vendors & Products Radareorg
Radareorg radare2

Tue, 22 Sep 2026 15:15:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Description radare2 is a UNIX-like reverse engineering framework and command-line toolset. Prior to 6.2.0, radare2's ELF PN_XNUM handling was vulnerable because the ELF parser allocated the program-header array using the resolved PN_XNUM count but several consumers still iterated with the original e_phnum value of 65535. The vulnerability is triggered by processing a crafted ELF file with e_phnum = 0xffff and a much smaller resolved count in shdr[0].sh_info. Consumers iterated beyond the allocated program-header array. This can cause a heap out-of-bounds read and process termination, resulting in denial of service; memory disclosure and code execution have not been demonstrated. This issue is fixed in version 6.2.0.
Title radare2: Heap out-of-bounds read in radare2 ELF PN_XNUM handling
Weaknesses CWE-125
References
Metrics cvssV3_1

{'score': 5.5, 'vector': 'CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H'}


cve-icon MITRE

Status: PUBLISHED

Assigner: GitHub_M

Published: 2026-09-22T15:09:01.910Z

Updated: 2026-09-22T15:38:46.170Z

Reserved: 2026-08-27T17:48:42.122Z

Link: CVE-2026-81879

cve-icon Vulnrichment

Updated: 2026-09-22T15:38:41.283Z

cve-icon NVD

Status : Analyzed

Published: 2026-09-22T16:18:02.617

Modified: 2026-09-25T16:53:48.707

Link: CVE-2026-81879

cve-icon Redhat

No data.