Buffer overflow vulnerability has been found in "extension/readdir.c" program file of gawk (ftype() routine). This issue could be used to crash the program and potentially to achieve code execution, although the latter has not been confirmed to be feasible. It affects gawk in versions 5.4.0 and below.
CVE-2026-40553
HIGHNVD 7.57.5—Trending — 4 sources updated this week
EchelonGraph scoreHIGH confidence
Score 7.5 from GitHub Security Advisory published 2026-07-13. NVD baseline CVSS 7.5; sources differ by 0.0.
Triggered by: GitHub Security Advisory CVSS
Sources: ghsa, nvd
7.5
EchelonGraph verdictPlan a fixSerious severity, but no confirmed exploitation yet.
- High severity, but no confirmed exploitation yet
CISA-KEV: Not listedEPSS: —CVSS: 7.5Exploit: NoneExposed: 0
No vendor fix yet — apply a workaround or compensating control (WAF / firewall / segmentation) and watch for a patch.
- CVSS v3
- 7.5
- EG Score
- 7.5(high)
- EPSS
- —
- KEV
- Not listed
Published
July 13, 2026
Last Modified
July 14, 2026
Advisory Details (2)
Auto-updated Jul 13, 2026No patch confirmed yet.
generic
Avoid buffer overflow in extension/readdir.c. - gawk.git - gawk
https://cgit.git.savannah.gnu.org/cgit/gawk.git/commit/?id=cca0366144336b49aaa7d5d949966ce8e2c70843generic
Vulnerabilities in GNU gawk software | CERT Polska
https://cert.pl/en/posts/2026/07/CVE-2026-40467Vendor Advisories for CVE-2026-40553(1)
These vendors published their own advisory mentioning this CVE — often with vendor-specific remediation steps + affected product lists not in NVD.
Weakness Classification(1)
MITRE Common Weakness Enumeration — the root-cause categories this CVE belongs to.
Data Freshness Timeline
(refreshed 5× in last 7d / 5× in last 30d)
Each row is a source pipeline that fetched or updated this CVE on that date, with what changed. For example, "NVD update" means NVD published or revised its analysis for this CVE; "MITRE cvelistV5" means we ingested or refreshed it from the CNA feed. Most recent first.
- 2026-07-14 11:28 UTCEG score recompute▲ 2.40
- 2026-07-14 11:27 UTCGHSA enrichment
- 2026-07-14 01:44 UTCNVD updateCVSS v3 → 7.5 · severity → HIGH
- 2026-07-13 12:53 UTCEG score recompute
- 2026-07-13 12:52 UTCMITRE cvelistV5first tracked
Related CVEs(same CWE)
Same CWE
10 shownCWE-121
- CVE-2012-10058EG 10.0CRITICAL
- CVE-2010-20113EG 9.8CRITICAL
- CVE-2010-20121EG 9.8CRITICAL
- CVE-2012-10060EG 9.8CRITICAL
- CVE-2012-10023EG 9.8CRITICAL
- CVE-2013-10042EG 9.8CRITICAL
- CVE-2012-10021EG 9.8CRITICAL
- CVE-2014-125117EG 9.8EPSS 91%CRITICAL
- CVE-2017-14854NVD 9.1EG 9.8EPSS 94%CRITICAL
- CVE-2015-1006EG 9.8EPSS 92%CRITICAL
Frequently asked(4)
What is CVE-2026-40553?
CVE-2026-40553 is a high vulnerability published on July 13, 2026. Buffer overflow vulnerability has been found in "extension/readdir.c" program file of gawk (ftype() routine). This issue could be used to crash the program and potentially to achieve code execution, although the latter has not been confirmed to be feasible. It affects gawk in versions 5.4.0 and…
When was CVE-2026-40553 disclosed?
CVE-2026-40553 was first published in the National Vulnerability Database on July 13, 2026, with the most recent update on July 14, 2026. EchelonGraph re-ingests CVE updates from NVD on a 2-hour cycle, so this page reflects the latest published state.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2026-40553?
CVE-2026-40553 has a CVSS v3 base score of 7.5 (NVD).
How do I remediate CVE-2026-40553?
Patch to the fixed version published by the affected vendor. Where vendor advisories exist for CVE-2026-40553, EchelonGraph cross-links them in the Vendor Advisories panel below — those typically contain the canonical remediation steps, fixed version numbers, and any vendor-specific mitigations.
Dependency Blast Radius
Explore the affected products and dependency analysis for CVE-2026-40553
Is Your Infrastructure Affected by CVE-2026-40553?
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