A heap‑buffer‑overflow flaw exists in binutils when it processes a specially crafted XCOFF object file during the link stage. The overflow can be triggered by a malformed section header that causes a write beyond the bounds of a heap buffer. If exploited, the attacker can gain arbitrary code execution, allowing the execution of arbitrary commands or the compromise of the system, or may trigger a denial of service that renders the affected machine unavailable. The weakness is identified as CWE‑122.

Red Hat products affected include Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10, Red Hat Hardened Images, and Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4. The affected binaries are those shipped by these distributions; precise package names and patch levels are not listed in the advisory.

The CVSS score of 7.8 indicates a high severity. EPSS is currently unavailable, so the estimated exploitability probability cannot be quantified, but the vulnerability requires local privilege – the attacker must be able to trick a user into opening the malicious XCOFF file. The vulnerability is not in CISA’s KEV catalog, so no public exploit is known. Still, because arbitrary code execution is possible, the risk is significant to any system that links arbitrary object files supplied by an untrusted source.