CVE-2026-41992 Global Buffer Overflow in GNU gzip
Attackers can trigger a global buffer overflow in GNU gzip by crafting specific LZW and LZH files, potentially causing crashes or code execution.
- 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-2026-41992?
CVE-2026-41992 is a medium-severity memory corruption vulnerability in GNU gzip, published on 29 Jun 2026. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Official description
GNU gzip contains a global buffer overflow vulnerability in the LZH decompression logic caused by improper reuse of shared global state between different decompression formats within a single execution. GNU gzip maintains a global array that is shared across the LZ77, LZW, and LZH decompression routines and is not reinitialized between files processed in the same invocation. By decompressing a specially crafted LZW file followed by a specially crafted LZH file in a single gzip -d command, an attacker can poison the shared global state and subsequently trigger an out‑of‑bounds read in the LZH decoder. The LZH decompression logic follows stale values left in the shared array, causing reads past the end of the allocated global buffer.
This issue has been fixed in commits 63dbf6b3b9e6e781df1a6a64e609b10e23969681 and e7378c2d421be6a286922374425680bbe9ad8b7d.
Weakness: CWE-126
Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-41992?
It affects 1 product.
Linux distribution packages (13)
gzip Red Hat:hummingbird:1 | All versions | 0:1.14-2.3.hum1 |
gzip SUSE:Linux Enterprise Micro 5.3 | All versions | 1.10-150200.16.1 |
gzip SUSE:Linux Enterprise Micro 5.4 | All versions | 1.10-150200.16.1 |
gzip SUSE:Linux Enterprise Micro 5.5 | All versions | 1.10-150200.16.1 |
gzip SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP7 | All versions | 1.10-150200.16.1 |
gzip SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server 16.0 | All versions | 1.13-160000.4.1 |
gzip SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server LTSS Extended Security 12 SP5 | All versions | 1.10-4.20.1 |
gzip SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server for SAP applications 16.0 | All versions | 1.13-160000.4.1 |
gzip SUSE:Linux Micro 6.0 | All versions | 1.13-3.1 |
gzip SUSE:Linux Micro 6.1 | All versions | 1.13-slfo.1.1_4.1 |
gzip SUSE:Linux Micro 6.2 | All versions | 1.13-160000.4.1 |
gzip openSUSE:Leap 16.0 | All versions | 1.13-160000.4.1 |
gzip openSUSE:Tumbleweed | All versions | 1.14-3.1 |
Products include Gnu Gzip.
How do I fix CVE-2026-41992?
Apply the vendor's patch.
Upgrade to the fixed version. Memory-safe languages, compiler hardening and fuzzing prevent most new cases. More about Memory corruption.
Is CVE-2026-41992 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-41992 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Other vulnerabilities in GNU gzip
Sources
Also known as ALPINE-CVE-2026-41992, AZL-91406, BELL-CVE-2026-41992, CLSA-2026-1783416812, CLSA-2026-1783417026, CLSA-2026-1783524887 and 26 more.