CVE-2026-53910
Heap-based Buffer Overflow in GNU diffutils
diff3 tool from GNU diffutils is vulnerable to a heap‑based buffer overflow due to multiple signed integer overflows in line‑mapping calculations. Incorrect arithmetic in mapping line ranges can result in corrupted values being used for memory allocation and loop bounds. When processing crafted diff output, these overflows may cause the application to allocate insufficient memory and subsequently perform out‑of‑bounds writes during internal processing. An attacker who can control the output of the diff program used by diff3 (e.g. via --diff-program pointing to a malicious script) can trigger out-of-bounds writes, resulting in a crash and potentially remote code execution depending on the environment.
This issue has been fixed in commit 9ff04d5b84743e331e80b589335a52c5480d1815
NOTE: The project maintainers claim that this is not a security issue. They state that the worst outcome this issue can cause is a crash of diff and that it cannot be used to escalate privileges.
Attack profile
How easy it is to exploit
- Attack vector
- Local
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges needed
- None
- User interaction
- None
What an attacker can affect
- Confidentiality
- None
- Integrity
- Low
- Availability
- Low
Exploit likelihood
What each source reports
CVE List Score used
2.1
Heap-based Buffer Overflow in GNU diffutils
diff3 tool from GNU diffutils is vulnerable to a heap‑based buffer overflow due to multiple signed integer overflows in line‑mapping calculations. Incorrect arithmetic in mapping line ranges can result in corrupted values being used for memory allocation and loop bounds. When processing crafted diff output, these overflows may cause the application to allocate insufficient memory and subsequently perform out‑of‑bounds writes during internal processing. An attacker who can control the output of the diff program used by diff3 (e.g. via --diff-program pointing to a malicious script) can trigger out-of-bounds writes, resulting in a crash and potentially remote code execution depending on the environment.
This issue has been fixed in commit 9ff04d5b84743e331e80b589335a52c5480d1815
NOTE: The project maintainers claim that this is not a security issue. They state that the worst outcome this issue can cause is a crash of diff and that it cannot be used to escalate privileges.
- Record
CVE-2026-53910- CVSS 4.0
- 2.1 Low
CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:P/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:L/VA:L/SC:L/SI:L/SA:L - Weakness
- CWE-190
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
EUVDEUVD-2026-47695
2.1
diff3 tool from GNU diffutils is vulnerable to a heap‑based buffer overflow due to multiple signed integer overflows in line‑mapping calculations. Incorrect arithmetic in mapping line ranges can result in corrupted values being used for memory allocation and loop bounds. When processing crafted diff output, these overflows may cause the application to allocate insufficient memory and subsequently perform out‑of‑bounds writes during internal processing. An attacker who can control the output of the diff program used by diff3 (e.g. via --diff-program pointing to a malicious script) can trigger out-of-bounds writes, resulting in a crash and potentially remote code execution depending on the environment.
This issue has been fixed in commit 9ff04d5b84743e331e80b589335a52c5480d1815
NOTE: The project maintainers claim that this is not a security issue. They state that the worst outcome this issue can cause is a crash of diff and that it cannot be used to escalate privileges.
- Record
EUVD-2026-47695- CVSS 4.0
- 2.1 Low
CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:P/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:L/VA:L/SC:L/SI:L/SA:L - Updated
- 2026-11-02
GitHub AdvisoriesGHSA-9pwr-gcwm-8wj5
2.1
diff3 tool from GNU diffutils is vulnerable to a heap‑based buffer overflow due to multiple...
diff3 tool from GNU diffutils is vulnerable to a heap‑based buffer overflow due to multiple signed integer overflows in line‑mapping calculations. Incorrect arithmetic in mapping line ranges can result in corrupted values being used for memory allocation and loop bounds. When processing crafted diff output, these overflows may cause the application to allocate insufficient memory and subsequently perform out‑of‑bounds writes during internal processing. An attacker who can control the output of the diff program used by diff3 (e.g. via --diff-program pointing to a malicious script) can trigger out-of-bounds writes, resulting in a crash and potentially remote code execution depending on the environment.
This issue has been fixed in commit 9ff04d5b84743e331e80b589335a52c5480d1815
- Record
GHSA-9pwr-gcwm-8wj5- CVSS 4.0
- 2.1 Low
CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:P/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:L/VA:L/SC:L/SI:L/SA:L/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X - Weakness
- CWE-190
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
NVD
2.1
diff3 tool from GNU diffutils is vulnerable to a heap‑based buffer overflow due to multiple signed integer overflows in line‑mapping calculations. Incorrect arithmetic in mapping line ranges can result in corrupted values being used for memory allocation and loop bounds. When processing crafted diff output, these overflows may cause the application to allocate insufficient memory and subsequently perform out‑of‑bounds writes during internal processing. An attacker who can control the output of the diff program used by diff3 (e.g. via --diff-program pointing to a malicious script) can trigger out-of-bounds writes, resulting in a crash and potentially remote code execution depending on the environment.
This issue has been fixed in commit 9ff04d5b84743e331e80b589335a52c5480d1815
NOTE: The project maintainers claim that this is not a security issue. They state that the worst outcome this issue can cause is a crash of diff and that it cannot be used to escalate privileges.
- Record
CVE-2026-53910- CVSS 4.0
- 2.1 Low
CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:P/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:L/VA:L/SC:L/SI:L/SA:L/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X - Weakness
- CWE-190
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSV
2.1
Heap-based Buffer Overflow in GNU diffutils
diff3 tool from GNU diffutils is vulnerable to a heap‑based buffer overflow due to multiple signed integer overflows in line‑mapping calculations. Incorrect arithmetic in mapping line ranges can result in corrupted values being used for memory allocation and loop bounds. When processing crafted diff output, these overflows may cause the application to allocate insufficient memory and subsequently perform out‑of‑bounds writes during internal processing. An attacker who can control the output of the diff program used by diff3 (e.g. via --diff-program pointing to a malicious script) can trigger out-of-bounds writes, resulting in a crash and potentially remote code execution depending on the environment.
This issue has been fixed in commit 9ff04d5b84743e331e80b589335a52c5480d1815
NOTE: The project maintainers claim that this is not a security issue. They state that the worst outcome this issue can cause is a crash of diff and that it cannot be used to escalate privileges.
- Record
CVE-2026-53910- CVSS 4.0
- 2.1 Low
CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:P/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:L/VA:L/SC:L/SI:L/SA:L - Weakness
- CWE-190
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVDEBIAN-CVE-2026-53910
2.1
diff3 tool from GNU diffutils is vulnerable to a heap‑based buffer overflow due to multiple signed integer overflows in line‑mapping calculations. Incorrect arithmetic in mapping line ranges can result in corrupted values being used for memory allocation and loop bounds. When processing crafted diff output, these overflows may cause the application to allocate insufficient memory and subsequently perform out‑of‑bounds writes during internal processing. An attacker who can control the output of the diff program used by diff3 (e.g. via --diff-program pointing to a malicious script) can trigger out-of-bounds writes, resulting in a crash and potentially remote code execution depending on the environment. This issue has been fixed in commit 9ff04d5b84743e331e80b589335a52c5480d1815 NOTE: The project maintainers claim that this is not a security issue. They state that the worst outcome this issue can cause is a crash of diff and that it cannot be used to escalate privileges.
- Record
DEBIAN-CVE-2026-53910- CVSS 4.0
- 2.1 Low
CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:P/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:L/VA:L/SC:L/SI:L/SA:L/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X - Updated
- 2026-11-02
Show 9 moreShow less
OSVOESA-2026-3341
5.3
diffutils security update
GNU Diffutils is a package of several programs related to finding differences between files.
Security Fix(es):
diff3 tool from GNU diffutils is vulnerable to a heap‑based buffer overflow due to multiple signed integer overflows in line‑mapping calculations. Incorrect arithmetic in mapping line ranges can result in corrupted values being used for memory allocation and loop bounds. When processing crafted diff output, these overflows may cause the application to allocate insufficient memory and subsequently perform out‑of‑bounds writes during internal processing. An attacker who can control the output of the diff program used by diff3 (e.g. via --diff-program pointing to a malicious script) can trigger out-of-bounds writes, resulting in a crash and potentially remote code execution depending on the environment.
This issue has been fixed in commit 9ff04d5b84743e331e80b589335a52c5480d1815
NOTE: The project maintainers claim that this is not a security issue. They state that the worst outcome this issue can cause is a crash of diff and that it cannot be used to escalate privileges.(CVE-2026-53910)
- Record
OESA-2026-3341- CVSS 3.1
- 5.3 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:L - Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVOESA-2026-3342
5.3
diffutils security update
GNU Diffutils is a package of several programs related to finding differences between files.
Security Fix(es):
diff3 tool from GNU diffutils is vulnerable to a heap‑based buffer overflow due to multiple signed integer overflows in line‑mapping calculations. Incorrect arithmetic in mapping line ranges can result in corrupted values being used for memory allocation and loop bounds. When processing crafted diff output, these overflows may cause the application to allocate insufficient memory and subsequently perform out‑of‑bounds writes during internal processing. An attacker who can control the output of the diff program used by diff3 (e.g. via --diff-program pointing to a malicious script) can trigger out-of-bounds writes, resulting in a crash and potentially remote code execution depending on the environment.
This issue has been fixed in commit 9ff04d5b84743e331e80b589335a52c5480d1815
NOTE: The project maintainers claim that this is not a security issue. They state that the worst outcome this issue can cause is a crash of diff and that it cannot be used to escalate privileges.(CVE-2026-53910)
- Record
OESA-2026-3342- CVSS 3.1
- 5.3 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:L - Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVOESA-2026-3343
5.3
diffutils security update
GNU Diffutils is a package of several programs related to finding differences between files.
Security Fix(es):
diff3 tool from GNU diffutils is vulnerable to a heap‑based buffer overflow due to multiple signed integer overflows in line‑mapping calculations. Incorrect arithmetic in mapping line ranges can result in corrupted values being used for memory allocation and loop bounds. When processing crafted diff output, these overflows may cause the application to allocate insufficient memory and subsequently perform out‑of‑bounds writes during internal processing. An attacker who can control the output of the diff program used by diff3 (e.g. via --diff-program pointing to a malicious script) can trigger out-of-bounds writes, resulting in a crash and potentially remote code execution depending on the environment.
This issue has been fixed in commit 9ff04d5b84743e331e80b589335a52c5480d1815
NOTE: The project maintainers claim that this is not a security issue. They state that the worst outcome this issue can cause is a crash of diff and that it cannot be used to escalate privileges.(CVE-2026-53910)
- Record
OESA-2026-3343- CVSS 3.1
- 5.3 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:L - Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVOESA-2026-3344
5.3
diffutils security update
GNU Diffutils is a package of several programs related to finding differences between files.
Security Fix(es):
diff3 tool from GNU diffutils is vulnerable to a heap‑based buffer overflow due to multiple signed integer overflows in line‑mapping calculations. Incorrect arithmetic in mapping line ranges can result in corrupted values being used for memory allocation and loop bounds. When processing crafted diff output, these overflows may cause the application to allocate insufficient memory and subsequently perform out‑of‑bounds writes during internal processing. An attacker who can control the output of the diff program used by diff3 (e.g. via --diff-program pointing to a malicious script) can trigger out-of-bounds writes, resulting in a crash and potentially remote code execution depending on the environment.
This issue has been fixed in commit 9ff04d5b84743e331e80b589335a52c5480d1815
NOTE: The project maintainers claim that this is not a security issue. They state that the worst outcome this issue can cause is a crash of diff and that it cannot be used to escalate privileges.(CVE-2026-53910)
- Record
OESA-2026-3344- CVSS 3.1
- 5.3 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:L - Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVOESA-2026-3444
5.3
diffutils security update
GNU Diffutils is a package of several programs related to finding differences between files.
Security Fix(es):
diff3 tool from GNU diffutils is vulnerable to a heap‑based buffer overflow due to multiple signed integer overflows in line‑mapping calculations. Incorrect arithmetic in mapping line ranges can result in corrupted values being used for memory allocation and loop bounds. When processing crafted diff output, these overflows may cause the application to allocate insufficient memory and subsequently perform out‑of‑bounds writes during internal processing. An attacker who can control the output of the diff program used by diff3 (e.g. via --diff-program pointing to a malicious script) can trigger out-of-bounds writes, resulting in a crash and potentially remote code execution depending on the environment.
This issue has been fixed in commit 9ff04d5b84743e331e80b589335a52c5480d1815
NOTE: The project maintainers claim that this is not a security issue. They state that the worst outcome this issue can cause is a crash of diff and that it cannot be used to escalate privileges.(CVE-2026-53910)
- Record
OESA-2026-3444- CVSS 3.1
- 5.3 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:L - Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVRHSA-2026:45327
5.3
Red Hat Security Advisory: Red Hat Hardened Images RPMs Security Update
- Record
RHSA-2026:45327- CVSS 3.1
- 5.3 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:L - Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVUBUNTU-CVE-2026-53910
2.1
diff3 tool from GNU diffutils is vulnerable to a heap‑based buffer overflow due to multiple signed integer overflows in line‑mapping calculations. Incorrect arithmetic in mapping line ranges can result in corrupted values being used for memory allocation and loop bounds. When processing crafted diff output, these overflows may cause the application to allocate insufficient memory and subsequently perform out‑of‑bounds writes during internal processing. An attacker who can control the output of the diff program used by diff3 (e.g. via --diff-program pointing to a malicious script) can trigger out-of-bounds writes, resulting in a crash and potentially remote code execution depending on the environment. This issue has been fixed in commit 9ff04d5b84743e331e80b589335a52c5480d1815 NOTE: The project maintainers claim that this is not a security issue. They state that the worst outcome this issue can cause is a crash of diff and that it cannot be used to escalate privileges.
- Record
UBUNTU-CVE-2026-53910- CVSS 4.0
- 2.1 Low
CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:P/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:L/VA:L/SC:L/SI:L/SA:L - Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVMGASA-2026-0434 No score
Updated diffutils packages fix a security vulnerability
Heap-based Buffer Overflow in GNU diffutils. (CVE-2026-53910)
- Record
MGASA-2026-0434- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVUSN-8692-1 No score
diffutils vulnerability
It was discovered that GNU diffutils incorrectly handled certain integer arithmetic when mapping line ranges in diff3. A local attacker could possibly use this issue to cause diff3 to crash, resulting in a denial of service.
- Record
USN-8692-1- Updated
- 2026-11-02
Affected products
Affected packages
| Package | Affected | Fixed |
|---|---|---|
diffutilsAlpaquita:25 |
3.12-r0 up to 3.12-r1 | 3.12-r1 |
diffutilsAlpaquita:stream |
3.8-r1 up to 3.12-r1 | 3.12-r1 |
diffutilsBellSoft Hardened Containers:25 |
3.12-r0 up to 3.12-r1 | 3.12-r1 |
diffutilsBellSoft Hardened Containers:stream |
3.8-r1 up to 3.12-r1 | 3.12-r1 |
diffutilsDebian:12 |
All versions, plus listed versions 1:3.10-11:3.10-21:3.10-31:3.10-41:3.12-11:3.8-41:3.8-4+hurd.1 |
None known |
diffutilsDebian:13 |
All versions, plus listed versions 1:3.10-41:3.12-1 |
None known |
diffutilsDebian:14 |
All versions, plus listed versions 1:3.10-41:3.12-1 |
None known |
diffutilsMageia:10 |
before 3.12-1.1.mga10 | 3.12-1.1.mga10 |
diffutilsMageia:9 |
before 3.10-1.1.mga9 | 3.10-1.1.mga9 |
diffutilsopenEuler:22.03-LTS-SP4 |
before 3.8-4.oe2203sp4 | 3.8-4.oe2203sp4 |
Show 12 moreShow less
| Package | Affected | Fixed |
|---|---|---|
diffutilsopenEuler:24.03-LTS-SP1 |
before 3.10-3.oe2403sp1 | 3.10-3.oe2403sp1 |
diffutilsopenEuler:24.03-LTS-SP3 |
before 3.10-3.oe2403sp3 | 3.10-3.oe2403sp3 |
diffutilsopenEuler:20.03-LTS-SP4 |
before 3.7-4.oe2003sp4 | 3.7-4.oe2003sp4 |
diffutilsopenEuler:24.03-LTS-SP4 |
before 3.10-3.oe2403sp4 | 3.10-3.oe2403sp4 |
diffutilsRed Hat:hummingbird:1 |
before 0:3.12-6.1.hum1 | 0:3.12-6.1.hum1 |
diffutilsUbuntu:Pro:14.04:LTS |
before 1:3.3-1ubuntu0.1~esm1, plus listed versions 1:3.2-81:3.3-1 |
1:3.3-1ubuntu0.1~esm1 |
diffutilsUbuntu:Pro:16.04:LTS |
before 1:3.3-3ubuntu0.1~esm1, plus listed versions 1:3.3-11:3.3-21:3.3-3 |
1:3.3-3ubuntu0.1~esm1 |
diffutilsUbuntu:Pro:18.04:LTS |
before 1:3.6-1ubuntu0.1~esm1, plus listed versions 1:3.6-1 |
1:3.6-1ubuntu0.1~esm1 |
diffutilsUbuntu:Pro:20.04:LTS |
before 1:3.7-3ubuntu0.1~esm1, plus listed versions 1:3.7-3 |
1:3.7-3ubuntu0.1~esm1 |
diffutilsUbuntu:22.04:LTS |
before 1:3.8-0ubuntu2.1, plus listed versions 1:3.8-0ubuntu11:3.8-0ubuntu2 |
1:3.8-0ubuntu2.1 |
diffutilsUbuntu:24.04:LTS |
before 1:3.10-1ubuntu0.1, plus listed versions 1:3.8-41:3.10-11:3.10-1build1 |
1:3.10-1ubuntu0.1 |
diffutilsUbuntu:26.04:LTS |
before 1:3.12-1ubuntu0.1, plus listed versions 1:3.10-41:3.12-1 |
1:3.12-1ubuntu0.1 |
History
| Recorded | Changed | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| first indexed | CVE List, EUVD, GitHub Advisories, NVD, OSV |
Dates are when Every CVE recorded each change. Upstream dates may differ.
In short
CVE-2026-53910 is a low vulnerability (CVSS 2.1) in Gnu Diffutils, published July 22, 2026. Its validity is disputed. EPSS puts the chance of exploitation in the next 30 days at 0.29%, the 21st percentile. Fixed in diffutils 3.12-r1.
References
cert.pl/en/posts/2026/07/CVE-2026-53910
git.savannah.gnu.org/cgit/diffutils.git
cgit.git.savannah.gnu.org/cgit/diffutils.git/commit?id=73ed7ce85cc78effb94daf028c9af6b4e5252e50
cgit.git.savannah.gnu.org/cgit/diffutils.git/commit?id=9ff04d5b84743e331e80b589335a52c5480d1815
nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-53910
github.com/advisories/GHSA-9pwr-gcwm-8wj5
Show 19 moreShow less
docs.bell-sw.com/security/cves/CVE-2026-53910
github.com/CVEProject/cvelistV5/tree/main/cves/2026/53xxx/CVE-2026-53910.json
security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2026-53910
advisories.mageia.org/MGASA-2026-0434.html
bugs.mageia.org/show_bug.cgi?id=36243
ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-8692-1
openeuler.org/zh/security/security-bulletins/detail?id=openEuler-SA-2026-3341
openeuler.org/zh/security/security-bulletins/detail?id=openEuler-SA-2026-3342
openeuler.org/zh/security/security-bulletins/detail?id=openEuler-SA-2026-3343
openeuler.org/zh/security/security-bulletins/detail?id=openEuler-SA-2026-3344
openeuler.org/zh/security/security-bulletins/detail?id=openEuler-SA-2026-3444
access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:45327
access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-53910
access.redhat.com/security/updates/classification
images.redhat.com
security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/advisories/2026/rhsa-2026_45327.json
bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2506145
cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-53910
ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2026-53910