CVE-2026-56390
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.
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
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 Medium
CVSS: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 Medium
CVSS: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 Medium
CVSS: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 Medium
CVSS: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 Medium
CVSS: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 Medium
CVSS: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 Medium
CVSS: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 Medium
CVSS: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 Medium
CVSS: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 Medium
CVSS: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 Medium
CVSS: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 Medium
CVSS: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 Medium
CVSS: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 Medium
CVSS: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 Medium
CVSS: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
| Package | Affected | Fixed |
|---|---|---|
bisonAzure Linux:3 |
before 3.8.2-2 | 3.8.2-2 |
bisonDebian:12 |
All versions, plus listed versions 2:3.8.2+dfsg-1 |
None known |
bisonDebian:13 |
All versions, plus listed versions 2:3.8.2+dfsg-1 |
None known |
bisonDebian:14 |
All versions, plus listed versions 2:3.8.2+dfsg-1 |
None known |
Bison_jllJulia |
All versions | None known |
bisonopenEuler:22.03-LTS-SP4 From an advisory covering 2 CVEs |
before 3.8.2-4.oe2203sp4 | 3.8.2-4.oe2203sp4 |
bisonopenEuler:24.03-LTS-SP1 From an advisory covering 2 CVEs |
before 3.8.2-6.oe2403sp1 | 3.8.2-6.oe2403sp1 |
bisonopenEuler:24.03-LTS-SP3 From an advisory covering 2 CVEs |
before 3.8.2-6.oe2403sp3 | 3.8.2-6.oe2403sp3 |
bisonopenEuler:24.03-LTS-SP4 From an advisory covering 2 CVEs |
before 3.8.2-6.oe2403sp4 | 3.8.2-6.oe2403sp4 |
bisonUbuntu: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
| Package | Affected | Fixed |
|---|---|---|
bisonUbuntu:18.04:LTS |
All versions, plus listed versions 2:3.0.4.dfsg-1build1 |
None known |
bisonUbuntu: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 |
bisonUbuntu: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 |
bisonUbuntu: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 |
bisonUbuntu:26.10 |
All versions, plus listed versions 2:3.8.2+dfsg-1build42:3.8.2+dfsg-1ubuntu1 |
None known |
bisonUbuntu: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
| Recorded | Changed | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| affected | ||
| facts | OSV | |
| affected, aliases, published, references | EUVD | |
| first indexed | CVE 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
cert.pl/en/posts/2026/07/CVE-2026-56389
cgit.git.savannah.gnu.org/cgit/bison.git
cgit.git.savannah.gnu.org/cgit/bison.git/commit?id=8d101c19d4d9aaedf83a448c925513742d4efcf0
nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-56390
github.com/advisories/GHSA-3pcj-vqw8-47jm
github.com/CVEProject/cvelistV5/tree/main/cves/2026/56xxx/CVE-2026-56390.json
Show 8 moreShow less
security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2026-56390
openeuler.org/zh/security/security-bulletins/detail?id=openEuler-SA-2026-3304
nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-56389
openeuler.org/zh/security/security-bulletins/detail?id=openEuler-SA-2026-3305
openeuler.org/zh/security/security-bulletins/detail?id=openEuler-SA-2026-3306
openeuler.org/zh/security/security-bulletins/detail?id=openEuler-SA-2026-3307
ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2026-56390
cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-56390