CVE-2026-5745 Libarchive: a null pointer dereference vulnerability exists in the acl parser of libarchive
A null pointer dereference in libarchive's ACL parser allows attackers to cause a denial of service via crafted archives.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- Not needed
- Attackable
- Local or same network only
- Victim action needed
- A user has to click or open something
- Fix
- Available
What is CVE-2026-5745?
CVE-2026-5745 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Libarchive Libarchive, published on 7 Apr 2026. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.
Official description
A flaw was found in libarchive. A NULL pointer dereference vulnerability exists in the ACL parsing logic, specifically within the archive_acl_from_text_nl() function. When processing a malformed ACL string (such as a bare "d" or "default" tag without subsequent fields), the function fails to perform adequate validation before advancing the pointer. An attacker can exploit this by providing a maliciously crafted archive, causing an application utilizing the libarchive API (such as bsdtar) to crash, resulting in a Denial of Service (DoS).
Weakness: CWE-476
Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-5745?
It affects 4 products.
Products include Libarchive Libarchive, Redhat Enterprise Linux, Redhat Hardened Images, Redhat Openshift Container Platform.
How do I fix CVE-2026-5745?
Apply the vendor's patch.
Is CVE-2026-5745 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-5745 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Other vulnerabilities in Libarchive Libarchive
Sources
Also known as CLSA-2026-1776429223, CLSA-2026-1776430169, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-5745, ECHO-56a7-5917-6302, GHSA-fjqv-vj6q-4fcm, MINI-wr42-pmv9-vrfw and 1 more.