Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
CVE-2026-6844 lets a crafted ELF file make the readelf analysis utility consume excessive memory, become unresponsive, or crash. The documented impact is service availability, not data theft or modification. Business risk is greatest where automated build, security, or artifact-processing systems inspect files supplied by untrusted parties.
Executive priority
Schedule prompt remediation through normal vulnerability management. Accelerate action for internet-facing upload services, malware-analysis platforms, CI systems, or other workflows inspecting untrusted binaries. Lower priority may be reasonable where readelf is unavailable to untrusted inputs and operational resource controls limit disruption.
Technical view
Two readelf parsing flaws are described: resource exhaustion causing an out-of-memory condition and a null pointer dereference causing a segmentation fault. Exploitation requires readelf to process a crafted ELF file. CVSS 3.1 is 5.5, reflecting local access, low complexity, user interaction, and high availability impact only.
Likely exposure
The bundle marks affected packages across RHEL 7, 8, 9, and 10, Red Hat Hardened Images, and OpenShift Container Platform 4. Exposure is more consequential in automated workflows that invoke readelf against externally supplied ELF files. No affected or corrected package versions are provided, so package-level status requires Red Hat guidance.
Exploitation context
The supplied record does not establish active exploitation and marks the CVE as absent from KEV. The documented path requires local processing of a malicious ELF file and user or workflow interaction. No network-based attack path, confidentiality impact, integrity impact, or privilege escalation is identified.
Researcher notes
The source bundle provides no affected version ranges, fixed builds, patch identifiers, or public exploit evidence. Its CWE array lists CWE-400, while the description also identifies a CWE-476 null pointer dereference. Package status includes binutils-related, GDB, MinGW, OpenShift, and hardened-image entries; confirm precise component inheritance with Red Hat.
Mitigation direction
- Check Red Hat guidance and apply vendor-provided corrected packages when available.
- Avoid processing untrusted ELF files with readelf until affected systems are remediated.
- Isolate automated ELF inspection and enforce memory and process limits.
- Inventory affected Red Hat packages, OpenShift nodes, and hardened images.
Validation and detection
- Compare installed package builds and advisory status with current Red Hat guidance.
- Identify pipelines and services invoking readelf on externally supplied artifacts.
- Confirm inspection environments enforce memory limits and recover from readelf failures.
- After remediation, run vendor-approved regression testing in an isolated environment.
Public sources used
Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.
Conservative CVE-to-ATT&CK context
These mappings and lookup hints may be relevant to the vulnerability behavior, CWE, affected product, or exposure path. Glexia-inferred context is not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, CWE, or CVE Program mapping.
ATT&CK lookup starting points
Use these exact CWE pages and searches to review the Glexia ATT&CK library from this CVE's weakness and description context.
CWE-400: Exact CWE lookup
Use the exact CWE identifier as the starting point before reviewing related ATT&CK behavior. Open the exact CWE lookup page first, then review the ATT&CK searches from that MITRE weakness context. This is a Glexia lookup hint, not an official ATT&CK mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupContainer behavior lookup
The affected technology mentions containers, so container-specific ATT&CK technique review may help. This is a Glexia inferred lookup path, not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, or CVE Program mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupCVE-2026-6844 mapping review
Open the CVE-to-ATT&CK bridge for reviewed, inferred, or future official mappings tied to this CVE.
Open ATT&CK lookup- Severity
- Medium
- CVSS
- 5.5 (3.1)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
CNA and ADP enrichment extracted from CVE v5
These fields come from the CVE record and ADP containers, not from Glexia's Take. They preserve time-varying source decisions such as CISA SSVC, KEV status, CVSS metrics, and provider references.
SSVC decision data
CVSS vector scores
1 official scoreWe collect every scored CVSS vector available in the official CNA and ADP containers. When more than one version is present, the table keeps the source vectors side by side instead of collapsing them into the highest score.
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H1.83.6redhatVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.1 score
5.5MediumVector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Vulnerability timeline
Timeline events are normalized from CVE metadata, CNA source timelines, ADP timelines, and KEV metadata when present.
- Source timelineredhat
Reported to Red Hat.
- Source timelineredhat
Made public.
- CVE reservedCVE Program
The CVE ID was reserved by the assigning CNA.
- CVE publishedCVE Program
The CVE record was published.
- CVE updatedCVE Program
The CVE record metadata indicates this as the latest update time.
ADP provider summaries
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-6844CVE reference, redhat · vdb-entry, x_refsource_REDHAT
- RHBZ#2460016CVE reference, redhat · issue-tracking, x_refsource_REDHAT
Products and packages named in the record
CWE details
CWE links open Glexia weakness intelligence pages with official CWE context, developer remediation guidance, and related CVE mappings.