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CVE-2026-56390

Arbitrary Output Location Change in GNU Bison

4.6 MediumFix available

GNU Bison improperly handles grammar‑defined output paths. Grammar directives such as %output and %header allow specifying file paths, which are accepted without restriction and override caller‑supplied output options. When processing attacker-supplied grammar, this behavior allows directing generated files to arbitrary writable locations on the filesystem, potentially overwriting existing files accessible to the Bison process.

Maintainers of this project were notified about this vulnerability, and fixed the issue in commit 8d101c19d4d9aaedf83a448c925513742d4efcf0. However, they did not provide vulnerable version range. Version 3.8.2 was tested and confirmed as vulnerable, other versions were not tested but might also be vulnerable.

Attack profile

How easy it is to exploit

Attack vector
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges needed
None
User interaction
Active

What an attacker can affect

Confidentiality
None
Integrity
Low
Availability
None

Exploit likelihood

0.12%Unchanged since Jul 30, 2026
90%50%10%1%

What each source reports

CVE List Score used 4.6

Arbitrary Output Location Change in GNU Bison

GNU Bison improperly handles grammar‑defined output paths. Grammar directives such as %output and %header allow specifying file paths, which are accepted without restriction and override caller‑supplied output options. When processing attacker-supplied grammar, this behavior allows directing generated files to arbitrary writable locations on the filesystem, potentially overwriting existing files accessible to the Bison process.

Maintainers of this project were notified about this vulnerability, and fixed the issue in commit 8d101c19d4d9aaedf83a448c925513742d4efcf0. However, they did not provide vulnerable version range. Version 3.8.2 was tested and confirmed as vulnerable, other versions were not tested but might also be vulnerable.

Record
CVE-2026-56390
CVSS 4.0
4.6 MediumCVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:A/VC:N/VI:L/VA:N/SC:N/SI:L/SA:N
Weakness
CWE-73
Updated
2026-11-02
EUVDEUVD-2026-50277 4.6

GNU Bison improperly handles grammar‑defined output paths. Grammar directives such as %output and %header allow specifying file paths, which are accepted without restriction and override caller‑supplied output options. When processing attacker-supplied grammar, this behavior allows directing generated files to arbitrary writable locations on the filesystem, potentially overwriting existing files accessible to the Bison process.

Maintainers of this project were notified about this vulnerability, and fixed the issue in commit 8d101c19d4d9aaedf83a448c925513742d4efcf0. However, they did not provide vulnerable version range. Version 3.8.2 was tested and confirmed as vulnerable, other versions were not tested but might also be vulnerable.

Record
EUVD-2026-50277
CVSS 4.0
4.6 MediumCVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:A/VC:N/VI:L/VA:N/SC:N/SI:L/SA:N
Updated
2026-11-02
GitHub AdvisoriesGHSA-3pcj-vqw8-47jm 4.6

GNU Bison improperly handles grammar‑defined output paths. Grammar directives such as %output and...

GNU Bison improperly handles grammar‑defined output paths. Grammar directives such as %output and %header allow specifying file paths, which are accepted without restriction and override caller‑supplied output options. When processing attacker-supplied grammar, this behavior allows directing generated files to arbitrary writable locations on the filesystem, potentially overwriting existing files accessible to the Bison process.

Maintainers of this project were notified about this vulnerability, and fixed the issue in commit 8d101c19d4d9aaedf83a448c925513742d4efcf0. However, they did not provide vulnerable version range. Version 3.8.2 was tested and confirmed as vulnerable, other versions were not tested but might also be vulnerable.

Record
GHSA-3pcj-vqw8-47jm
CVSS 4.0
4.6 MediumCVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:A/VC:N/VI:L/VA:N/SC:N/SI:L/SA:N/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
CVSS 3.1
6.3 MediumCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:N/I:H/A:N
Weakness
CWE-73
Updated
2026-11-02
NVD 4.6

GNU Bison improperly handles grammar‑defined output paths. Grammar directives such as %output and %header allow specifying file paths, which are accepted without restriction and override caller‑supplied output options. When processing attacker-supplied grammar, this behavior allows directing generated files to arbitrary writable locations on the filesystem, potentially overwriting existing files accessible to the Bison process.

Maintainers of this project were notified about this vulnerability, and fixed the issue in commit 8d101c19d4d9aaedf83a448c925513742d4efcf0. However, they did not provide vulnerable version range. Version 3.8.2 was tested and confirmed as vulnerable, other versions were not tested but might also be vulnerable.

Record
CVE-2026-56390
CVSS 4.0
4.6 MediumCVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:A/VC:N/VI:L/VA:N/SC:N/SI:L/SA:N/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
CVSS 3.1
6.3 MediumCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:N/I:H/A:N
Weakness
CWE-73
Updated
2026-11-02
OSV 4.6

Arbitrary Output Location Change in GNU Bison

GNU Bison improperly handles grammar‑defined output paths. Grammar directives such as %output and %header allow specifying file paths, which are accepted without restriction and override caller‑supplied output options. When processing attacker-supplied grammar, this behavior allows directing generated files to arbitrary writable locations on the filesystem, potentially overwriting existing files accessible to the Bison process.

Maintainers of this project were notified about this vulnerability, and fixed the issue in commit 8d101c19d4d9aaedf83a448c925513742d4efcf0. However, they did not provide vulnerable version range. Version 3.8.2 was tested and confirmed as vulnerable, other versions were not tested but might also be vulnerable.

Record
CVE-2026-56390
CVSS 4.0
4.6 MediumCVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:A/VC:N/VI:L/VA:N/SC:N/SI:L/SA:N
Weakness
CWE-73
Updated
2026-11-02
OSVDEBIAN-CVE-2026-56390 6.3

GNU Bison improperly handles grammar‑defined output paths. Grammar directives such as %output and %header allow specifying file paths, which are accepted without restriction and override caller‑supplied output options. When processing attacker-supplied grammar, this behavior allows directing generated files to arbitrary writable locations on the filesystem, potentially overwriting existing files accessible to the Bison process. Maintainers of this project were notified about this vulnerability, and fixed the issue in commit 8d101c19d4d9aaedf83a448c925513742d4efcf0. However, they did not provide vulnerable version range. Version 3.8.2 was tested and confirmed as vulnerable, other versions were not tested but might also be vulnerable.

Record
DEBIAN-CVE-2026-56390
CVSS 3.1
6.3 MediumCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:N/I:H/A:N
Updated
2026-11-02
Show 7 moreShow less
OSVJLSEC-2026-1346 4.6

GNU Bison improperly handles grammar‑defined output paths. Grammar directives such as %output and...

GNU Bison improperly handles grammar‑defined output paths. Grammar directives such as %output and %header allow specifying file paths, which are accepted without restriction and override caller‑supplied output options. When processing attacker-supplied grammar, this behavior allows directing generated files to arbitrary writable locations on the filesystem, potentially overwriting existing files accessible to the Bison process.

Maintainers of this project were notified about this vulnerability, and fixed the issue in commit 8d101c19d4d9aaedf83a448c925513742d4efcf0. However, they did not provide vulnerable version range. Version 3.8.2 was tested and confirmed as vulnerable, other versions were not tested but might also be vulnerable.

Record
JLSEC-2026-1346
CVSS 4.0
4.6 MediumCVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:A/VC:N/VI:L/VA:N/SC:N/SI:L/SA:N/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
OSVOESA-2026-3304 6.8

bison security update

Bison is a general-purpose parser generator that converts an annotated context-free grammar into a deterministic LR or generalized LR (GLR) parser employing LALR(1) parser tables. As an experimental feature, Bison can also generate IELR(1) or canonical LR(1) parser tables. Once you are proficient with Bison, you can use it to develop a wide range of language parsers, from those used in simple desk calculators to complex programming languages.

Security Fix(es):

GNU Bison allows for an execution of an arbitrary program during HTML report generation due to improper handling of grammar-defined configuration variables. A grammar file can override the executable used for the XML‑to‑HTML transformation step via %define tool.xsltproc, which is accepted without restriction and passed directly to execvp(). When running bison --html on a attacker-provided grammar, this behavior allows execution of an arbitrary program with the privileges of the Bison process.(CVE-2026-56389)

GNU Bison improperly handles grammar‑defined output paths. Grammar directives such as %output and %header allow specifying file paths, which are accepted without restriction and override caller‑supplied output options. When processing attacker-supplied grammar, this behavior allows directing generated files to arbitrary writable locations on the filesystem, potentially overwriting existing files accessible to the Bison process. Maintainers of this project were notified about this vulnerability, and fixed the issue in commit 8d101c19d4d9aaedf83a448c925513742d4efcf0. However, they did not provide vulnerable version range. Version 3.8.2 was tested and confirmed as vulnerable, other versions were not tested but might also be vulnerable.(CVE-2026-56390)

Record
OESA-2026-3304
CVSS 4.0
6.8 MediumCVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:A/VC:N/VI:H/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
OSVOESA-2026-3305 6.8

bison security update

Bison is a general-purpose parser generator that converts an annotated context-free grammar into a deterministic LR or generalized LR (GLR) parser employing LALR(1) parser tables. As an experimental feature, Bison can also generate IELR(1) or canonical LR(1) parser tables. Once you are proficient with Bison, you can use it to develop a wide range of language parsers, from those used in simple desk calculators to complex programming languages.

Security Fix(es):

GNU Bison allows for an execution of an arbitrary program during HTML report generation due to improper handling of grammar-defined configuration variables. A grammar file can override the executable used for the XML‑to‑HTML transformation step via %define tool.xsltproc, which is accepted without restriction and passed directly to execvp(). When running bison --html on a attacker-provided grammar, this behavior allows execution of an arbitrary program with the privileges of the Bison process.(CVE-2026-56389)

GNU Bison improperly handles grammar‑defined output paths. Grammar directives such as %output and %header allow specifying file paths, which are accepted without restriction and override caller‑supplied output options. When processing attacker-supplied grammar, this behavior allows directing generated files to arbitrary writable locations on the filesystem, potentially overwriting existing files accessible to the Bison process. Maintainers of this project were notified about this vulnerability, and fixed the issue in commit 8d101c19d4d9aaedf83a448c925513742d4efcf0. However, they did not provide vulnerable version range. Version 3.8.2 was tested and confirmed as vulnerable, other versions were not tested but might also be vulnerable.(CVE-2026-56390)

Record
OESA-2026-3305
CVSS 4.0
6.8 MediumCVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:A/VC:N/VI:H/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
OSVOESA-2026-3306 6.8

bison security update

Bison is a general-purpose parser generator that converts an annotated context-free grammar into a deterministic LR or generalized LR (GLR) parser employing LALR(1) parser tables. As an experimental feature, Bison can also generate IELR(1) or canonical LR(1) parser tables. Once you are proficient with Bison, you can use it to develop a wide range of language parsers, from those used in simple desk calculators to complex programming languages.

Security Fix(es):

GNU Bison allows for an execution of an arbitrary program during HTML report generation due to improper handling of grammar-defined configuration variables. A grammar file can override the executable used for the XML‑to‑HTML transformation step via %define tool.xsltproc, which is accepted without restriction and passed directly to execvp(). When running bison --html on a attacker-provided grammar, this behavior allows execution of an arbitrary program with the privileges of the Bison process.(CVE-2026-56389)

GNU Bison improperly handles grammar‑defined output paths. Grammar directives such as %output and %header allow specifying file paths, which are accepted without restriction and override caller‑supplied output options. When processing attacker-supplied grammar, this behavior allows directing generated files to arbitrary writable locations on the filesystem, potentially overwriting existing files accessible to the Bison process. Maintainers of this project were notified about this vulnerability, and fixed the issue in commit 8d101c19d4d9aaedf83a448c925513742d4efcf0. However, they did not provide vulnerable version range. Version 3.8.2 was tested and confirmed as vulnerable, other versions were not tested but might also be vulnerable.(CVE-2026-56390)

Record
OESA-2026-3306
CVSS 4.0
6.8 MediumCVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:A/VC:N/VI:H/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
OSVOESA-2026-3307 6.8

bison security update

Bison is a general-purpose parser generator that converts an annotated context-free grammar into a deterministic LR or generalized LR (GLR) parser employing LALR(1) parser tables. As an experimental feature, Bison can also generate IELR(1) or canonical LR(1) parser tables. Once you are proficient with Bison, you can use it to develop a wide range of language parsers, from those used in simple desk calculators to complex programming languages.

Security Fix(es):

GNU Bison allows for an execution of an arbitrary program during HTML report generation due to improper handling of grammar-defined configuration variables. A grammar file can override the executable used for the XML‑to‑HTML transformation step via %define tool.xsltproc, which is accepted without restriction and passed directly to execvp(). When running bison --html on a attacker-provided grammar, this behavior allows execution of an arbitrary program with the privileges of the Bison process.(CVE-2026-56389)

GNU Bison improperly handles grammar‑defined output paths. Grammar directives such as %output and %header allow specifying file paths, which are accepted without restriction and override caller‑supplied output options. When processing attacker-supplied grammar, this behavior allows directing generated files to arbitrary writable locations on the filesystem, potentially overwriting existing files accessible to the Bison process. Maintainers of this project were notified about this vulnerability, and fixed the issue in commit 8d101c19d4d9aaedf83a448c925513742d4efcf0. However, they did not provide vulnerable version range. Version 3.8.2 was tested and confirmed as vulnerable, other versions were not tested but might also be vulnerable.(CVE-2026-56390)

Record
OESA-2026-3307
CVSS 4.0
6.8 MediumCVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:A/VC:N/VI:H/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
OSVUBUNTU-CVE-2026-56390 4.6

GNU Bison improperly handles grammar‑defined output paths. Grammar directives such as %output and %header allow specifying file paths, which are accepted without restriction and override caller‑supplied output options. When processing attacker-supplied grammar, this behavior allows directing generated files to arbitrary writable locations on the filesystem, potentially overwriting existing files accessible to the Bison process. Maintainers of this project were notified about this vulnerability, and fixed the issue in commit 8d101c19d4d9aaedf83a448c925513742d4efcf0. However, they did not provide vulnerable version range. Version 3.8.2 was tested and confirmed as vulnerable, other versions were not tested but might also be vulnerable.

Record
UBUNTU-CVE-2026-56390
CVSS 4.0
4.6 MediumCVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:A/VC:N/VI:L/VA:N/SC:N/SI:L/SA:N
CVSS 3.1
6.3 MediumCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:N/I:H/A:N
Updated
2026-11-02
OSVAZL-94136 No score

CVE-2026-56390 affecting package bison for versions less than 3.8.2-2

GNU Bison improperly handles grammar‑defined output paths. Grammar directives such as %output and %header allow specifying file paths, which are accepted without restriction and override caller‑supplied output options. When processing attacker-supplied grammar, this behavior allows directing generated files to arbitrary writable locations on the filesystem, potentially overwriting existing files accessible to the Bison process.

Maintainers of this project were notified about this vulnerability, and fixed the issue in commit 8d101c19d4d9aaedf83a448c925513742d4efcf0. However, they did not provide vulnerable version range. Version 3.8.2 was tested and confirmed as vulnerable, other versions were not tested but might also be vulnerable.

Record
AZL-94136
Updated
2026-11-05

Affected products

Affected packages

Affected packages
PackageAffectedFixed
bison
Azure Linux:3
before 3.8.2-2
3.8.2-2
bison
Debian:12
All versions, plus listed versions
2:3.8.2+dfsg-1
None known
bison
Debian:13
All versions, plus listed versions
2:3.8.2+dfsg-1
None known
bison
Debian:14
All versions, plus listed versions
2:3.8.2+dfsg-1
None known
Bison_jll
Julia
All versions None known
bison
openEuler:22.03-LTS-SP4
From an advisory covering 2 CVEs
before 3.8.2-4.oe2203sp4
3.8.2-4.oe2203sp4
bison
openEuler:24.03-LTS-SP1
From an advisory covering 2 CVEs
before 3.8.2-6.oe2403sp1
3.8.2-6.oe2403sp1
bison
openEuler:24.03-LTS-SP3
From an advisory covering 2 CVEs
before 3.8.2-6.oe2403sp3
3.8.2-6.oe2403sp3
bison
openEuler:24.03-LTS-SP4
From an advisory covering 2 CVEs
before 3.8.2-6.oe2403sp4
3.8.2-6.oe2403sp4
bison
Ubuntu:16.04:LTS
All versions, plus listed versions
2:3.0.2.dfsg-22:3.0.4.dfsg-1
None known
Show 6 moreShow less
Affected packages
PackageAffectedFixed
bison
Ubuntu:18.04:LTS
All versions, plus listed versions
2:3.0.4.dfsg-1build1
None known
bison
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS
All versions, plus listed versions
2:3.4.1+dfsg-42:3.4.2+dfsg-12:3.5.1+dfsg-1
None known
bison
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS
All versions, plus listed versions
2:3.7.6+dfsg-1build12:3.8.2+dfsg-12:3.8.2+dfsg-1build12:3.8.2+dfsg-1ubuntu0.22.04.1
None known
bison
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS
All versions, plus listed versions
2:3.8.2+dfsg-1build12:3.8.2+dfsg-1build22:3.8.2+dfsg-1ubuntu0.24.04.1
None known
bison
Ubuntu:26.10
All versions, plus listed versions
2:3.8.2+dfsg-1build42:3.8.2+dfsg-1ubuntu1
None known
bison
Ubuntu:26.04:LTS
All versions, plus listed versions
2:3.8.2+dfsg-1build32:3.8.2+dfsg-1build42:3.8.2+dfsg-1ubuntu0.26.04.1
None known

History

History
RecordedChangedSources
affected
factsOSV
affected, aliases, published, referencesEUVD
first indexedCVE List, GitHub Advisories, NVD, OSV

Dates are when Every CVE recorded each change. Upstream dates may differ.

In short

CVE-2026-56390 is a medium vulnerability (CVSS 4.6) in Gnu Bison, published July 29, 2026. No source lists public exploit code. EPSS puts the chance of exploitation in the next 30 days at 0.12%, the 2nd percentile. Fixed in bison 3.8.2-2.

References

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