High severity · published Aug 24, 2026
CVE-2026-76844
zlib 1.2.11 through 1.3.2 Heap Buffer Overflow via Stale gzwrite Pointer After Failed Write
7.4
CVSS
0.6%
EPSS
No
On KEV
Description
zlib 1.2.11 through 1.3.2 contains a heap buffer overflow: after an underlying write() fails, gz_write() returns without resetting strm.next_in, leaving it pointed at the caller's buffer. A later gz* write call then derives a position from the stale pointer and writes past a heap allocation; any write() failure reaches it, including EPIPE on a blocking descriptor, and in versions before 1.3.1.2 the failed write must be followed by a gzclearerr() call.
CVSS vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:H
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
High
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
High
Availability
High
Scope
Unchanged
Exploitation
Is it being used?
Exploit prediction (EPSS)0.6% · higher than 48% of CVEs
Exploited in the wildNo evidence yet
CISA KEVNot listed
Ransomware campaign useNot known
Affected products
Which versions
ZL
zlib · zlib
1.2.11 through 1.3.2 · source: vendor
References
NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-76844
CVE.org
https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-76844
technical-description
https://gist.github.com/thesmartshadow/e0b9481792afb7c31e86fee1ff084490
patch
https://github.com/madler/zlib/commit/df84af25dc1942490e1d1c899a07619152a46148
technical-description
https://github.com/madler/zlib/blob/v1.3.2/gzwrite.c#L393
product
https://github.com/madler/zlib
third-party-advisory
https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/zlib-1.3.1.2-through-1.3.2-heap-buffer-overflow-via-gz-vacate
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