CVE-2026-7260
Description
A flaw was found in PHP. When processing a specially crafted PHP Archive (phar) file containing circular symbolic links, the PHP process can enter an uncontrolled loop. This unbounded recursion exhausts the program's memory stack, causing the PHP application to crash. This vulnerability could allow an attacker to trigger a Denial of Service (DoS) condition, making the affected PHP service unavailable.
Statement
This Moderate impact flaw in PHP allows a local attacker to trigger a denial of service by providing a specially crafted phar archive containing circular symbolic links. Successful exploitation exhausts the C stack, leading to a PHP process crash, which can disrupt services utilizing PHP for archive processing.
Mitigation
To mitigate this issue, avoid processing phar archives from untrusted sources. If the `phar` extension is not essential for your application, consider disabling it in the PHP configuration. Disabling the `phar` extension may impact applications that rely on it for legitimate archive handling.
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).
CVSS v3 Score Breakdown
| Red Hat | NVD | cve.org | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Base Score | 5.5 | N/A | N/A |
| Attack Vector | Local | N/A | N/A |
| Attack Complexity | Low | N/A | N/A |
| Privileges Required | None | N/A | N/A |
| User Interaction | Required | N/A | N/A |
| Scope | Unchanged | N/A | N/A |
| Confidentiality | None | N/A | N/A |
| Integrity Impact | None | N/A | N/A |
| Availability Impact | High | N/A | N/A |
Vector
Red Hat: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Understanding the Weakness (CWE)
Availability
Technical Impact: DoS: Resource Consumption (CPU)
Frequently Asked Questions
Not sure what something means? Check out our Security Glossary.
Want to get errata notifications? Sign up here.
