CVE-2026-18743

A flaw was found in popt. This vulnerability allows an attacker to provide specially crafted configuration content to a host, which, when loaded, can lead to a small memory corruption issue. This occurs because of an error in how the poptConfigFileToString function reallocates memory for buffers. Successful exploitation could result in heap metadata corruption, potentially causing the affected process to become unavailable (denial of service).

This Low impact heap overflow in popt occurs when processing specially crafted configuration files through an explicit call to poptConfigFileToString(). Red Hat products are less exposed as this function is not utilized by internal sources, limiting the attack surface to scenarios where untrusted popt configuration content is explicitly loaded.

The CVSS score(s) listed for this vulnerability do not reflect the associated product's status, and are included for informational purposes to better understand the severity of this vulnerability.

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.