Raw vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:LSummary
CVE-2026-3441 is a medium-severity Out-of-bounds Read (CWE-125) vulnerability in Redhat Enterprise Linux. Its CVSS base score is 6.1 (Medium).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploitation for Privilege Escalation (T1068); ranked at the 8th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to SA-11 (Developer Testing and Evaluation) and SA-8 (Security and Privacy Engineering Principles) — see the control section below for these in your framework.
Deeper analysis AI-assisted summary
Synthesised by an AI model from the NVD description and linked references — a reading aid, not an authoritative source.
CVE-2026-3441 is a heap-based buffer overflow vulnerability, specifically an out-of-bounds read, in the bfd linker component of GNU Binutils. This flaw affects GNU Binutils, a collection of binary utilities commonly used for manipulating object files and binaries across various Unix-like systems. Published on 2026-03-16, it is rated with a CVSS v3.1 base score of 6.1 (AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:L) and maps to CWE-125 (Out-of-bounds Read).
An attacker can exploit this vulnerability locally by convincing a user or administrator to process a specially crafted XCOFF object file using affected Binutils tools. No privileges are required (PR:N), but it demands low complexity and user interaction, such as opening or linking the malicious file. Successful exploitation enables high-impact confidentiality violations through access to sensitive information or low-impact application-level denial of service.
For mitigation details, security practitioners should refer to the Red Hat security advisory at https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-3441 and the associated Bugzilla entry at https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2443826, which provide guidance on patches and workarounds.
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2026-12194
Vulnerability Data
A flaw was found in GNU Binutils. This heap-based buffer overflow vulnerability, specifically an out-of-bounds read in the bfd linker, allows an attacker to gain access to sensitive information. By convincing a user to process a specially crafted XCOFF object…
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file, an attacker can trigger this flaw, potentially leading to information disclosure or an application level denial of service.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI
Developer testing and evaluation directly finds out-of-bounds read flaws through static analysis, fuzzing, and dynamic bounds checks.
Secure engineering principles require bounds checking and memory-safe constructs that stop out-of-bounds reads from being introduced.
Process isolation confines the effects of an out-of-bounds read to the compromised process.
Input validation rejects malformed indices or lengths that would otherwise cause reads outside buffer bounds.
Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI
Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.
Secure-development practices such as bounds checking and memory-safe languages directly prevent out-of-bounds reads.
Vulnerability scanning and recording can discover instances of out-of-bounds reads after code is deployed.
Routine patching replaces vulnerable code containing out-of-bounds read flaws.
Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI
Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.
Security testing in development and acceptance includes fuzzing and static analysis that detect out-of-bounds read defects before release.
Logging can record evidence of an out-of-bounds read but does not prevent the weakness itself.
Secure development life cycle mandates input validation and bounds checking that directly prevent out-of-bounds reads.
Application security requirements include explicit bounds and memory-safety specifications that mitigate buffer over-reads.
Secure system architecture and engineering principles require memory-safe design patterns and runtime protections against out-of-bounds access.
Secure coding standards explicitly forbid unsafe pointer arithmetic and mandate bounds-checked reads, eliminating CWE-125.