Netatalk Security Advisory
| Subject | Heap out-of-bounds read in Spotlight CNID array handling |
|---|---|
| CVE ID# | CVE-2026-110779 |
| Severity | Moderate |
| Disclosure Date | 2026/10/15 |
| Affected Versions | 3.1.0-4.5.1 |
| Summary | Spotlight query array elements are copied without validating their type or allocation size |
Description
sl_createCNIDArray() in etc/afpd/spotlight.c copies eight bytes from each
kMDQueryItemArray element without checking its talloc type or allocation size.
A crafted FPSpotlightRPC request containing shorter elements can trigger a heap
out-of-bounds read. Exploitation requires Spotlight support to be built and enabled,
and an authenticated client with an accessible volume open. Guest access is sufficient
when the optional guest UAM and a guest-accessible volume are configured.
The resulting value is used as an internal CNID filter and is not returned to the client; information disclosure has not been established. A production crash has not been demonstrated. No write primitive or remote code execution has been established.
Patch Availability
Apply CVE-2026-110779.patch to a Netatalk 4.5.1 source tree to hotfix your local Netatalk deployment.
Upgrade to Netatalk 4.5.2 or later, which includes the patch.
CVSS Calculation
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L (4.3)
Workaround
Disable Spotlight indexing in afp.conf:
[Global]
spotlight = no
Credits
Vulnerability reported by:
Elias Hasas (@zer0d4y5)
Patch developed by:
Daniel Markstedt of the Netatalk team
References
Go back to the Security Policy.