CVE-2026-48864 - A flaw was found in libsolv. This heap buffer overflow occurs during the decompression of attacker-controlled

CVE-2026-48864 + A flaw was found in libsolv. This heap buffer overflow occurs during the decompression of attacker-controlled + High + 2026-05-26

One-sentence business risk

A small malicious input can exhaust workers or crash services, creating a customer-visible availability incident.

Research notes

  • Root cause: A flaw was found in libsolv. This heap buffer overflow occurs during the decompression of attacker-controlled compressed data within .solv files due to insufficient input validation.
  • Affected versions: Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10; Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8; Red Hat Red Hat Hardened Images; Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7; Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9; Red Hat Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4; Red Hat Red Hat Satellite 6; Red Hat Red Hat Update Infrastructure 4 for Cloud Providers.
  • Fixed / safe versions: 0.7.38-2.hum1, 0:0.7.20-7.el8_10, 0:0.7.33-5.el10_2.
  • Public exploit / PoC signal: the consulted NVD/GHSA/vendor sources describe the trigger class; treat it as reproducible until patched.
  • CVSS: 7.8 CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H.

Exact vulnerable code pattern

memcpy(dst, src, user_len); parse_nested(untrusted, no_depth_limit);

Fixed / mitigated code pattern

bounds-check length before copy, cap parser depth/counts, and reject malformed frames before allocation

Dependency or runtime update:

rg -n "affected component|CVE-2026-48864" .
# update affected runtime/product to 0.7.38-2.hum1, 0:0.7.20-7.el8_10, 0:0.7.33-5.el10_2

Step-by-step integration guide

  1. Inventory affected component across source, lockfiles, SBOMs, container images, CI images, and deployment manifests.
  2. Upgrade to 0.7.38-2.hum1, 0:0.7.20-7.el8_10, 0:0.7.33-5.el10_2 or apply the exact vendor patch referenced below.
  3. Replace the vulnerable memory-corruption pattern with the fixed pattern and fail closed on malformed input.
  4. Add a regression test that exercises the advisory trigger and proves the request is rejected, bounded, or authorized.
  5. Deploy through canary, monitor security logs and resource metrics, then remove temporary edge blocks only after all runtimes are fixed.

Alternative mitigations

  • Disable the vulnerable feature path while the package/runtime update rolls out.
  • Add WAF or reverse-proxy rules for traversal tokens, prototype-polluting keys, oversized frames, shell metacharacters, or unauthenticated tool calls matching the trigger class.
  • Restrict internal egress, rotate exposed secrets, and revoke affected tokens/keys if the vulnerability can disclose config, logs, JWT secrets, proxy credentials, or PKI material.
  • For admin/API authorization issues, temporarily require elevated roles and explicit ownership checks at the gateway.

Detection signature

id: cve-2026-48864-a-flaw-was-found-in-libsolv-this-heap-buffer-ove
source: "MITRE CVE List V5"
dependency_or_product: "affected component"
affected: "Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10; Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8; Red Hat Red Hat Hardened Images; Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7; Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9; Red Hat Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4; Red Hat Red Hat Satellite 6; Red Hat Red Hat Update Infrastructure 4 for Cloud Providers"
fixed: "0.7.38-2.hum1, 0:0.7.20-7.el8_10, 0:0.7.33-5.el10_2"
signals:
  - "memory-corruption"
  - "../"
  - "__proto__"
  - "tools/call"
  - "wp_ajax_nopriv"
  - "pickle.loads"
  - "shell command construction"
action: "upgrade, add regression test, and verify deploy artifact"

Copy-paste skill

You are remediating CVE-2026-48864 (A flaw was found in libsolv. This heap buffer overflow occurs during the decompression of attacker-controlled) in this repository.

Find every affected dependency, runtime, image, service configuration, and reachable code path. Upgrade or patch to 0.7.38-2.hum1, 0:0.7.20-7.el8_10, 0:0.7.33-5.el10_2. Replace the vulnerable memory-corruption pattern with a fail-closed implementation, add a regression test for the trigger shape, and update deployment/SBOM artifacts. If this repository does not control the affected runtime, create TRIAGE.md naming the owner, affected version, fixed version, and blocking decision.

Keywords, affected tech stack, and revenue tags

  • Keywords: CVE-2026-48864, memory-corruption, affected component, MITRE CVE List V5.
  • Affected tech stack: general.
  • Revenue tags: sellable_to_fintech, enterprise_blocker, high_priority_sla.

References