CVE-2026-8925 — curl
CRITICALCVE-2026-8925 is a critical-severity (CVSS 9.8) CWE-415 vulnerability. A fix is available — see the affected versions and patch details below.
SASL double-free
Exploitation Status
Proof-of-concept exploit code exists
- CISA’s SSVC triage found public proof-of-concept exploit code for this CVE, though no confirmed active exploitation.
- CISA assesses this as automatable — exploitation doesn’t require manual, per-target effort, which raises the odds of mass scanning and opportunistic attacks.
- A successful exploit gives an attacker total control of the affected component, not partial access.
Exploitation and automatability from CISA’s SSVC triage for CVE-2026-8925.
EPSS Exploitation Probability
Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, from FIRST.org EPSS.
How urgent is this, really
CVE-2026-8925 by exploitation likelihood (EPSS) against impact (CVSS). Outside the shaded patch-first corner.
Where this sits among everything scored
Of 385,386 CVEs with a current EPSS score, this one falls in the < 10% band (highlighted). Counts from FIRST.org, log-scaled.
Description
The curl logic that works with SASL authentication could end up cleaning up
the GSASL context twice without clearing the pointer in between, making it
free() the same pointer twice.
Affected Products
curlhaxxDetection & mitigation playbook
VulnerabilityDetect
Identify every host running the affected component and compare the installed build against the fixed version below — for source-built or distro-packaged software the version string, not a lockfile, is the source of truth (`dpkg -l`, `rpm -q`, or the binary's own `--version`).
Fix
Upgrade the affected component to the fixed release for CVE-2026-8925, or apply your distribution's backported patch — distro builds are often patched at an older version number, so check your vendor's advisory rather than the upstream version alone.
Workarounds
If you can't upgrade right away: gate or disable the affected feature, validate untrusted input at the boundary, and avoid passing attacker-controlled data into the vulnerable path. O3's runtime protection blocks exploitation in production as an interim safeguard until the upgrade lands.
Fixing This On Your OS
If you run this on a Linux distribution, patch through your package manager against the distro's own security advisory below — it tracks the exact backported fix for your release, which can ship on a different timeline (and sometimes a different severity) than the upstream project.
This Important flaw in curl's SASL authentication logic could lead to a double-free vulnerability, potentially resulting in memory corruption, denial of service, or arbitrary code execution. The impact is significant as curl is a widely used utility in Red Hat environments, and SASL authentication is a common…
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.Source: Red Hat security advisory for CVE-2026-8925 (CC BY 4.0)
| Product | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|
| Red Hat Hardened Images | curl-main-8.21.0-0.1.hum1 | RHSA-2026:29017 |
| Red Hat Hardened Images | rust-main-1.96.1-1.hum1 | RHSA-2026:34975 |
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2026-8925 in your dependencies?
Find it across , including transitive dependencies.