Description
An integer underflow was found in the popt library when formatting help text for option tables that exceed the terminal width. A local user who can cause an application to print help under those conditions may cause that application to crash or fail to display help, resulting in a denial of service of the affected application.
Published: 2026-08-05
Score: 2.2 Low
EPSS: n/a
KEV: No
Impact: n/a
Action: n/a
AI Analysis

Impact

An integer underflow occurs in popt when formatting help text for option tables that exceed the terminal width. This flaw can cause the application to crash or fail to display help, leading to a denial of service for a local user who can trigger help output. The weakness identified is an integer underflow, categorized as CWE‑191.

Affected Systems

The vulnerability affects Red Hat Enterprise Linux versions 6 through 10, Red Hat Hardened Images, and Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4. Any application on these platforms that uses the popt library to generate help tables can be impacted.

Risk and Exploitability

The CVSS score is 2.2, indicating low severity. No EPSS score is available, and the vulnerability is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog. The flaw requires a local user capable of causing the application to print help; therefore, it is a local denial‑of‑service condition with low exploit probability under current information.

Generated by OpenCVE AI on August 5, 2026 at 22:24 UTC.

Remediation

No vendor fix or workaround currently provided.

OpenCVE Recommended Actions

  • Update the popt package or the affected Red Hat distribution to a version containing the fix.
  • Restrict local user permissions so that only trusted users can invoke application help or prevent help output on wide tables.
  • Monitor application logs for abnormal help invocation attempts and investigate suspicious activity.

Generated by OpenCVE AI on August 5, 2026 at 22:24 UTC.

Tracking

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Advisories

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History

Wed, 05 Aug 2026 21:15:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Description An integer underflow was found in the popt library when formatting help text for option tables that exceed the terminal width. A local user who can cause an application to print help under those conditions may cause that application to crash or fail to display help, resulting in a denial of service of the affected application.
Title Popt-devel: popt-static: size_t underflow in singleoptionhelp
First Time appeared Redhat
Redhat enterprise Linux
Redhat hummingbird
Redhat openshift
Weaknesses CWE-191
CPEs cpe:/a:redhat:hummingbird:1
cpe:/a:redhat:openshift:4
cpe:/o:redhat:enterprise_linux:10
cpe:/o:redhat:enterprise_linux:6
cpe:/o:redhat:enterprise_linux:7
cpe:/o:redhat:enterprise_linux:8
cpe:/o:redhat:enterprise_linux:9
Vendors & Products Redhat
Redhat enterprise Linux
Redhat hummingbird
Redhat openshift
References
Metrics cvssV3_1

{'score': 2.2, 'vector': 'CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L'}

Subscriptions

Redhat Enterprise Linux Hummingbird Openshift
cve-icon MITRE

Status: PUBLISHED

Assigner: redhat

Published:

Updated: 2026-08-05T21:44:08.177Z

Reserved: 2026-08-04T14:41:25.490Z

Link: CVE-2026-18839

cve-icon Vulnrichment

No data.

cve-icon NVD

No data.

cve-icon Redhat

No data.

cve-icon OpenCVE Enrichment

Updated: 2026-08-05T22:30:05Z

Weaknesses
  • CWE-191

    Integer Underflow (Wrap or Wraparound)