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2.5
popt library may let attackers run code
published 2 months ago
Summary
The popt software used to read command-line options has an off‑by‑one mistake that can corrupt a program's internal data when the function is called many times or with complex option aliases. If a compromised program then uses that corrupted data, a local attacker could cause the program to run their own code. Update the popt library to the latest version or apply the vendor's security patch as soon as possible.
What to do
- Update openeuler popt to version 1.18-4.oe2003sp4.
Affected software
| Ecosystem | Vendor | Product | Affected versions |
|---|---|---|---|
| openEuler:20.03-LTS-SP4 | openeuler | popt |
< 1.18-4.oe2003sp4 Fix: upgrade to 1.18-4.oe2003sp4
|
Original advisory text
popt security update
The popt library exists essentially for parsing command line options. Some specific advantages of popt are no global variables (allowing multiple passes in parsing argv), parsing an arbitrary array of argv-style elements (allowing parsing of command-line-strings from any source), a standard method of option aliasing, ability to exec external option filters, and automatic generation of help and usage messages.
Security Fix(es):
A flaw was found in popt, a command-line option parsing library. An off-by-one error in the poptStuffArgs function, when repeatedly called by a host application or through deep alias nesting, can lead to corruption of internal program data. This corruption could potentially enable a local attacker to execute arbitrary code if the host application then unsafely processes the altered data.(CVE-2026-18739)
Security Fix(es):
A flaw was found in popt, a command-line option parsing library. An off-by-one error in the poptStuffArgs function, when repeatedly called by a host application or through deep alias nesting, can lead to corruption of internal program data. This corruption could potentially enable a local attacker to execute arbitrary code if the host application then unsafely processes the altered data.(CVE-2026-18739)
References
- https://www.openeuler.org/zh/security/security-bulletins/detail/?id=openEuler-SA... Vendor Advisory
- https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-18739 Vendor Advisory
Internet-facing
60 days
Internal
At next upgrade
- Not known to be exploited
- Needs hands-on effort to exploit (estimated)
- Gives an attacker partial control (estimated)
Timeline
Published5 Sep 2026
Updated5 Sep 2026
First seen5 Sep 2026
Sources
OESA-2026-3611 · OSV
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