Executive brief
popt is a C library widely used by Linux applications and package managers to parse command-line options. A flaw in memory reallocation within the configuration file parser could allow an attacker to trigger heap corruption by supplying a malicious configuration file, potentially crashing applications that use popt.
Technical details
The vulnerability is a heap overflow in the poptConfigFileToString function caused by improper memory reallocation for buffers. An attacker can craft a malicious configuration file that, when loaded and parsed by an application using popt, triggers memory corruption in heap metadata. The attack requires no authentication and only requires the target application to parse the attacker-supplied configuration file. Successful exploitation leads to denial of service through process crash; remote code execution is not indicated. Patch status was not explicitly confirmed in available advisory details.
Affected products
- rpm-software-management popt <UNKNOWN>
Timeline
- 2026-09-01: disclosed