CVE-2026-19542
MEDIUMDescription
Calling tdelete on a sufficiently deep tree in the GNU C Library version 2.1 to 2.44 may write one pointer past the end of an alloca-allocated array on the stack, which may crash the application. The tdelete implementation keeps an explicit stack of parent nodes for rebalancing, which is grown as needed while descending the tree. Two rebalancing branches push an additional entry without checking the capacity, and write past the array when the stack is exactly full. Triggering this requires a node at a depth of exactly 40 (or 40 plus a multiple of 20), which implies a tree with at least a million nodes, so an attacker must drive a large number of insertions and deletions through an application that uses tsearch and tdelete. The written value is a pointer into a tree node and is not directly attacker controlled. No affected application in common distributions has been identified.
How to fix
TridentStack Control can deploy fixes like this automatically across your Windows, macOS, and Linux fleet. See how it works
Remediation is compiled from vendor and distribution security advisories. Always confirm against the linked source for your exact version and platform.
CVSS v3 Vector
Exploitability
Impact
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:L
Exploit Intelligence
Low risk: more likely to be exploited than 20% of all known CVEs.
References
Related Vulnerabilities
Other CWE-121 (Stack-based Buffer Overflow) vulnerabilities, ordered by exploit likelihood. View all
| CVE | Severity | CVSS | EPSS | Exploited | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CVE-2025-22457 | Critical | 9.0 | 100% | KEV + Ransom | Fix |
| CVE-2025-0282 | Critical | 9.0 | 100% | KEV + Ransom | - |
| CVE-2021-20038 | Critical | 9.8 | 100% | KEV + Ransom | - |
| CVE-2009-0927 | High | 8.8 | 97% | KEV | Fix |
| CVE-2020-10924 | High | 8.8 | 87% | - | - |
| CVE-2022-20705 | Critical | 10.0 | 80% | - | - |
Common questions
How do I fix CVE-2026-19542?
Published advisories record a fix for 5 affected products. The "How to fix" section on this page lists the fixed version and source advisory for each one, so apply the entry matching what you actually run.
Is CVE-2026-19542 being actively exploited?
Not that we know of. CVE-2026-19542 is not in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog. Its EPSS score of 0.28% is the estimated probability that it will be exploited in the next 30 days. That is higher than 20% of all scored CVEs.
How severe is CVE-2026-19542?
CVE-2026-19542 has a CVSS v3 base score of 5.6, rated medium. CVSS rates the technical impact if the vulnerability is exploited, not how likely that is, so weigh it alongside the exploit-prediction score when you decide what to patch first.
What does CVE-2026-19542 affect?
Published advisories record a fix for glibc (Debian), glibc (Red Hat / RHEL), glibc (Rocky), glibc (Ubuntu), and 1 more. Only products with a sourced advisory are listed, so treat this as what we can cite rather than a complete inventory.
Embed a live status badge for CVE-2026-19542
Markdown
[](https://tridentstack.com/cve/CVE-2026-19542)HTML
<a href="https://tridentstack.com/cve/CVE-2026-19542"><img src="https://tridentstack.com/cve/badge/CVE-2026-19542.svg" alt="CVE-2026-19542"></a>Check your Linux endpoints for this class of vulnerability
TridentStack Control continuously scans Linux endpoints for known vulnerabilities and deploys the fixes from the same console. 200 endpoints free forever, no credit card.
This product uses NVD data but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. EPSS scores courtesy of FIRST.org (https://www.first.org/epss). Source: CISA KEV Catalog. Data as of 2026-09-18.