CVE-2026-56289

4.6 MEDIUM 0.1% exploit odds Fix listed Denial of service

What it is

GNU patch is vulnerable to a denial of service (DoS) due to improper validation of hunk (single block of changes in diff) line offsets in unified-diff input. A specially crafted patch can specify an extremely large line number, causing the application to enter an effectively infinite processing loop while attempting to locate the requested position. This results in excessive CPU consumption and prevents the process from completing. An attacker can trigger this behavior by supplying a malicious patch file, causing the utility to become unresponsive and require manual termination. This issue has been fixed in the commit faba04ef4f2b410257f76c1b9dc85e350929c4b9

At a glance

Exploitability: Can be exploited locally on the machine without logging in, but needs a user to act. Limited direct impact.
Exploit odds: 0.1% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days (EPSS).
Fix: A patch, advisory or fixed version is referenced. Upgrade or apply it.

Timeline

2026-07-09 11:16 UTC PublishedDisclosed publicly on CVE.org and NVD
2026-10-25 17:10 UTC Last updatedMost recent change to the record

Why it ranks here

Exploited in the wild: no, CISA does not list it.
Exploit odds: 0.1% in the next 30 days (EPSS).
Severity: 4.6 MEDIUM (CVSS).
Fix: a patch or advisory is linked.

Details

Published: 2026-07-09 11:16 UTC
Last modified: 2026-10-25 17:10 UTC
Exploit probability: 0.1% · EPSS, next 30 days
Weakness: CWE-835
Record status: Analyzed

Affected

Gnu Patch ≤ 2.8.0

Attack profile CVSS 4.0 · 4.6

Attack vector: Local
Complexity: Low
Attack requirements: None
Privileges needed: None
User interaction: Active
Confidentiality: None
Integrity: None
Availability: Low

Raw vector

CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:A/VC:N/VI:N/VA:L/SC:N/SI:N/SA:L/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X

Is it in your code?

Hand this to your coding agent. It searches your project for the affected products and checks versions. Nothing leaves your machine.

Read https://cve-list.com/agent/cve/CVE-2026-56289.md and follow it. Check whether this project is affected by CVE-2026-56289. Read only. Don't change anything and don't upload my code. Tell me yes, no or not sure, with the file as proof.

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Fix and advisories

References

NVD record · CVE.org record