CVE-2026-63886: Software Security Vulnerability Vulnerability

CRITICAL
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-f9cg-2c9v-xhmh
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CVSS 9.8
CWE-122
Published
Advisory Summary

CVE-2026-63886 is a CRITICAL (CVSS 9.8) security vulnerability vulnerability (CWE-122: Heap-based Buffer Overflow) affecting Software libraries in the Maven ecosystem. The weakness occurs when a heap overflow condition is a buffer overflow, where the buffer that can be overwritten is allocated in the heap portion of memory, generally meaning that the buffer was allocated using a routine such as malloc().. Remediation is available in the latest vendor maintenance releases.

CVE-2026-63886 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2026-63886
GHSA Identifier GHSA-f9cg-2c9v-xhmh
Severity CRITICAL
CVSS v3.1 Base Score 9.8
CWE Classification CWE-122: Heap-based Buffer Overflow
Affected Product Software
Package Ecosystem Maven
Published Date
Last Updated

Security Impact

CVSS: 9.8

The security impact metrics below are parsed directly from the CVSS v3.1 vector string (CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H).

Attack Vector Network (AV:N)
Attack Complexity Low (AC:L)
Privileges Required None (PR:N)
User Interaction None (UI:N)
Scope Unchanged (S:U)
Confidentiality High (C:H)
Integrity High (I:H)
Availability High (A:H)

How to Fix CVE-2026-63886

To remediate this vulnerability, upgrade all affected Software dependencies to a patched release. Both direct and transitive dependencies should be checked, as frameworks or security libraries may pull in vulnerable versions transitively.

Verify Direct and Transitive Dependencies

Run the following command in your project directory to verify that all resolved dependencies use the patched release: 

mvn dependency:tree

How to Check if You Are Affected

To determine whether your Java application is affected by CVE-2026-63886, inspect your build dependencies using the Maven Dependency Plugin:

mvn dependency:tree

Analyze the terminal output to locate any version of Software in your dependency tree. If any resolved version matches the vulnerable ranges listed in the table below (for example, versions earlier than the patched release), your application is affected.

Note: The mvn dependency:tree command inspects the resolved dependency graph declared in your project's POM files; it does not perform automated security scanning or inspect runtime dynamic classpaths. Always verify runtime container classpaths and shaded JARs.

Technical Details

Vulnerability Mechanism & Technical Analysis

This vulnerability is classified under CWE-122: Heap-based Buffer Overflow, where a heap overflow condition is a buffer overflow, where the buffer that can be overwritten is allocated in the heap portion of memory, generally meaning that the buffer was allocated using a routine such as malloc(). In Software, software state validation or input boundaries are circumvented during processing. Review the official source advisory statement below for specific affected components, classes, and reproduction details.

Source Advisory Statement

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: scsi: target: iscsi: Validate CHAP_R length before base64 decode chap_server_compute_hash() allocates client_digest as kzalloc(chap->digest_size) and then, for BASE64-encoded responses, passes chap_r directly to chap_base64_decode() without checking whether the input length could produce more than digest_size bytes of output. chap_base64_decode() writes to the destination unconditionally as long as there is input to consume. With MAX_RESPONSE_LENGTH set to 128 and the "0b" prefix stripped by extract_param(), up to 127 base64 characters can reach the decoder. 127 characters decode to 95 bytes. For SHA-256 (digest_size=32) this overflows client_digest by 63 bytes; for MD5 (digest_size=16) the overflow is 79 bytes. The length check at line 344 fires after the write has already happened. The HEX branch in the same switch statement already validates the length up front. Apply the same approach to the BASE64 branch: strip trailing base64 padding characters, then reject any input whose data length exceeds DIV_ROUND_UP(digest_size * 4, 3) before calling the decoder. Stripping trailing '=' before the comparison handles both padded and unpadded encodings. chap_base64_decode() already returns early on '=', so the full original string is still passed to the decoder unchanged. The mutual CHAP path decodes CHAP_C into initiatorchg_binhex, which is kzalloc(CHAP_CHALLENGE_STR_LEN). extract_param() caps initiatorchg at CHAP_CHALLENGE_STR_LEN characters, so at most CHAP_CHALLENGE_STR_LEN-1 base64 characters reach the decoder. The maximum decoded size, DIV_ROUND_UP((CHAP_CHALLENGE_STR_LEN-1) * 3, 4), is less than CHAP_CHALLENGE_STR_LEN, so no overflow is possible there. A comment is added at the call site to document this.

References

NVD — CVE-2026-63886 NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-63886
git.kernel.org/stable/c/4a3a19c98a... WEB
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/4a3a19c98a8207ad08bec554703d90f2c34a8cc6
git.kernel.org/stable/c/82454e6f21... WEB
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/82454e6f21e56ea9a0a9de7d0ff7e1dfb83e34d6
git.kernel.org/stable/c/85db739131... WEB
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/85db7391310b1304d2dc8ae3b0b12105a9567147
git.kernel.org/stable/c/bf154c6578... WEB
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/bf154c657828ed05399bca5d98cf1611bb048b12
git.kernel.org/stable/c/c04e857993... WEB
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/c04e85799356120209b351a148ac2db888d5ffd9
git.kernel.org/stable/c/edd06675a0... WEB
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/edd06675a02376ea8347dba7c29ad982ba5b36ee

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2026-63886?
CVE-2026-63886 is a security vulnerability in Software classified as a security vulnerability vulnerability under CWE-122: Heap-based Buffer Overflow.
Which Software versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to current release patches.
What version fixes CVE-2026-63886?
Upgrading to current release patches (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2026-63886?
CVE-2026-63886 has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 9.8 (CRITICAL) with vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H.
What CWE is associated with CVE-2026-63886?
CVE-2026-63886 is classified under CWE-122: Heap-based Buffer Overflow (A heap overflow condition is a buffer overflow, where the buffer that can be overwritten is allocated in the heap portion of memory, generally meaning that the buffer was allocated using a routine such as malloc().).
How can I check Maven dependencies for CVE-2026-63886?
Run the dependency tree command: 'mvn dependency:tree'. This command lists direct and transitive dependencies in your build configuration so you can verify if a vulnerable version is resolved.
Machine-readable OSV JSON OSV v1.5 Schema
Normalized schema output
View Raw JSON 
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  "id" : "GHSA-f9cg-2c9v-xhmh",
  "modified" : "2026-07-20T15:31:49Z",
  "published" : "2026-07-19T18:31:44Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2026-63886" ],
  "details" : "In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\nscsi: target: iscsi: Validate CHAP_R length before base64 decode\n\nchap_server_compute_hash() allocates client_digest as\nkzalloc(chap->digest_size) and then, for BASE64-encoded responses,\npasses chap_r directly to chap_base64_decode() without checking whether\nthe input length could produce more than digest_size bytes of output.\n\nchap_base64_decode() writes to the destination unconditionally as long\nas there is input to consume. With MAX_RESPONSE_LENGTH set to 128 and\nthe \"0b\" prefix stripped by extract_param(), up to 127 base64 characters\ncan reach the decoder. 127 characters decode to 95 bytes. For SHA-256\n(digest_size=32) this overflows client_digest by 63 bytes; for MD5\n(digest_size=16) the overflow is 79 bytes.\n\nThe length check at line 344 fires after the write has already happened.\n\nThe HEX branch in the same switch statement already validates the length\nup front. Apply the same approach to the BASE64 branch: strip trailing\nbase64 padding characters, then reject any input whose data length\nexceeds DIV_ROUND_UP(digest_size * 4, 3) before calling the decoder.\n\nStripping trailing '=' before the comparison handles both padded and\nunpadded encodings. chap_base64_decode() already returns early on '=',\nso the full original string is still passed to the decoder unchanged.\n\nThe mutual CHAP path decodes CHAP_C into initiatorchg_binhex, which is\nkzalloc(CHAP_CHALLENGE_STR_LEN). extract_param() caps initiatorchg at\nCHAP_CHALLENGE_STR_LEN characters, so at most CHAP_CHALLENGE_STR_LEN-1\nbase64 characters reach the decoder. The maximum decoded size,\nDIV_ROUND_UP((CHAP_CHALLENGE_STR_LEN-1) * 3, 4), is less than\nCHAP_CHALLENGE_STR_LEN, so no overflow is possible there. A comment is\nadded at the call site to document this.",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V3",
    "score" : "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H"
  } ],
  "affected" : [ ],
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    "url" : "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/bf154c657828ed05399bca5d98cf1611bb048b12"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/c04e85799356120209b351a148ac2db888d5ffd9"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/edd06675a02376ea8347dba7c29ad982ba5b36ee"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-122" ],
    "severity" : "CRITICAL",
    "github_reviewed" : false,
    "github_reviewed_at" : null,
    "nvd_published_at" : "2026-07-19T16:17:05Z"
  }
}