CVE-2026-40468 Heap buffer overflow in gawk

Low 2.1 Published 13 Jul 2026 Updated 13 Jul 2026

An integer overflow in gawk allows attackers to cause memory exhaustion or execute arbitrary code via heap corruption.

Exploited in the wild: Not known
Login needed: Not needed
Attackable: Local or same network only
Victim action needed: Not needed
Fix: Available

What is CVE-2026-40468?

CVE-2026-40468 is a low-severity vulnerability in GNU gawk, published on 13 Jul 2026. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

Official description

Integer overflow vulnerability has been found in "builtin.c" program file of gawk. This issue may lead to memory exhaustion on the hosting operating system and could be used to overwrite gawk heap metadata and objects with attacker-controlled bytes. It affects gawk in versions 5.4.0 and below.

Weakness: CWE-190

Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-40468?

It affects 1 product.

Linux distribution packages (1)

gawk SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server LTSS Extended Security 12 SP5 All versions 4.1.0-5.6.1

Products include Fossies Gawk.

How do I fix CVE-2026-40468?

Apply the vendor's patch.

Is CVE-2026-40468 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-40468 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Sources

Also known as AZL-92289, BELL-CVE-2026-40468, CLSA-2026-1784131550, CLSA-2026-1784802906, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-40468, ECHO-d213-6ca4-3322 and 4 more.