CVE-2026-59685

Description

A flaw was found in httpd. When deployed on Windows environments, an out-of-bounds write vulnerability occurs while processing path requests containing short 8.3 file names that expand beyond allocated memory buffers. A remote attacker can exploit this flaw by sending crafted HTTP requests, potentially leading to memory corruption, a Denial of Service (DoS) via server crash, or arbitrary code execution.

Statement

This vulnerability is evaluated with an Important severity because an unauthenticated remote client could trigger memory corruption leading to a denial of service. However, Red Hat Enterprise Linux and other Red Hat platforms are not affected by this issue. The vulnerable canonical path expansion code is exclusive to Windows operating systems running on case-insensitive filesystems supporting 8.3 short filename conventions.

Mitigation

Mitigation for this issue is either not available or the currently available options do not meet the Red Hat Product Security criteria comprising ease of use and deployment, applicability to widespread installation base, or stability.

Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) Score Details

Info alert:Important note

CVSS scores for open source components depend on vendor-specific factors (e.g. version or build chain). Therefore, Red Hat's score and impact rating can be different from NVD and other vendors. Red Hat remains the authoritative CVE Naming Authority (CNA) source for its products and services (see Red Hat classifications).

The following CVSS metrics and score provided are preliminary and subject to review.

CVSS v3 Score Breakdown

Red HatNVDcve.org
Base Score7.5N/A7.5
Attack VectorNetworkN/ANetwork
Attack ComplexityLowN/ALow
Privileges RequiredNoneN/ANone
User InteractionNoneN/ANone
ScopeUnchangedN/AUnchanged
ConfidentialityNoneN/AHigh
Integrity ImpactNoneN/ANone
Availability ImpactHighN/ANone

Vector

Red Hat: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

cve.org: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N

Understanding the Weakness (CWE)

Integrity

Technical Impact: Modify Memory; Execute Unauthorized Code or Commands

Write operations could cause memory corruption. In some cases, an adversary can modify control data such as return addresses in order to execute unexpected code.

Availability

Technical Impact: DoS: Crash, Exit, or Restart

Attempting to access out-of-range, invalid, or unauthorized memory could cause the product to crash.

Other

Technical Impact: Unexpected State

Subsequent write operations can produce undefined or unexpected results.

Frequently Asked Questions

Want to get errata notifications? Sign up here.