CVE-2026-27820 | zlib: Buffer Overflow in Zlib::GzipReader ungetc via large input leads to memory corruption

zlib is a Ruby interface for the zlib compression/decompression library. Versions 3.0.0 and below, 3.1.0, 3.1.1, 3.2.0 and 3.2.1 contain a buffer overflow vulnerability in the Zlib::GzipReader. The zstream_buffer_ungets function prepends caller-provided bytes ahead of previously produced output but fails to guarantee the backing Ruby string has enough capacity before the memmove shifts the existing data. This can lead to memory corruption when the buffer length exceeds capacity. This issue has been fixed in versions 3.0.1, 3.1.2 and 3.2.3.

Published: 2026-04-16 Last update: 2026-05-21 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Analyzed，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2026-27820 is rated Low Risk (11.3/100): CVSS Low severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.04%). Low composite risk—no urgent action required; patch on your normal maintenance cycle and revisit priority if CVSS or EPSS increases.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2026-27820

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2026-04-17 — 0.04% —

Full EPSS history (1 record total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2026-27820

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
1.7 4.0 LOW
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:L/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:U/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Exploitation conditions are straightforward and stable.
Attack requirements (AT:P)
Additional preconditions must be present for exploitation.
Privileges required (PR:N)
No privileges are required.
User interaction (UI:N)
No user interaction is required.
Vulnerable system confidentiality impact (VC:N)
No confidentiality impact on the vulnerable system.
Vulnerable system integrity impact (VI:N)
No integrity impact on the vulnerable system.
Vulnerable system availability impact (VA:L)
Limited availability impact on the vulnerable system.
Subsequent system confidentiality impact (SC:N)
No confidentiality impact on subsequent systems.
Subsequent system integrity impact (SI:N)
No integrity impact on subsequent systems.
Subsequent system availability impact (SA:N)
No availability impact on subsequent systems.
Exploit maturity (threat) (E:U)
Unreported: no public PoC, no reported exploitation, and no known simplification tools.
Confidentiality requirement (CR:X)
Not defined: insufficient information; scoring treats this like High (worst case).
Integrity requirement (IR:X)
Not defined: insufficient information; scoring treats this like High (worst case).
Availability requirement (AR:X)
Not defined: insufficient information; scoring treats this like High (worst case).
Modified attack vector (MAV:X)
Not defined: scoring uses the Base Attack Vector (AV).
Modified attack complexity (MAC:X)
Not defined: scoring uses the Base Attack Complexity (AC).
Modified attack requirements (MAT:X)
Not defined: scoring uses the Base Attack Requirements (AT).
Modified privileges required (MPR:X)
Not defined: scoring uses the Base Privileges Required (PR).
Modified user interaction (MUI:X)
Not defined: scoring uses the Base User Interaction (UI).
Modified vulnerable system confidentiality impact (MVC:X)
Not defined: scoring uses the Base VC metric.
Modified vulnerable system integrity impact (MVI:X)
Not defined: scoring uses the Base VI metric.
Modified vulnerable system availability impact (MVA:X)
Not defined: scoring uses the Base VA metric.
Modified subsequent system confidentiality impact (MSC:X)
Not defined: scoring uses the Base SC metric.
Modified subsequent system integrity impact (MSI:X)
Not defined: scoring uses the Base SI metric.
Modified subsequent system availability impact (MSA:X)
Not defined: scoring uses the Base SA metric.
Safety (supplemental) (S:X)
Not evaluated.
Automatable (supplemental) (AU:X)
Not evaluated.
Recovery (supplemental) (R:X)
Not evaluated.
Value density (supplemental) (V:X)
Not evaluated.
Vulnerability response effort (supplemental) (RE:X)
Not evaluated.
Provider urgency (supplemental) (U:X)
Not evaluated.
 — — [email protected]
9.8 3.1 CRITICAL
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:N)
No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
 3.9 5.9 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2026-27820

GitHub Security Advisory for CVE-2026-27820

GHSA-g857-hhfv-j68w · Severity: medium · Ecosystem: rubygems — Buffer Overflow in Zlib::GzipReader ungetc via large input leads to memory corruption

OS Trackers for CVE-2026-27820

vendor priority summary link
alpine — CVE-2026-27820: 1 source package rows (ruby); 2 state rows across 2 repos (3.23-main, edge-main); fixed 2, open 0. https://security.alpinelinux.org/vuln/CVE-2026-27820
debian not yet assigned CVE-2026-27820 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 3 source packages (ruby2.7, ruby3.1, ruby3.3), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): open 5. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2026-27820
redhat medium — https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-27820
suse high CVE-2026-27820 severity important: SUSE including 7 source package names (libruby2_5-2_5-2.5.9-150700.24.6.1, ruby, …), 51 product×package rows across 24 product lines (Image SLES15-SP7-SAP-Azure-LI-BYOS-Production, Image SLES15-SP7-SAP-Azure-VLI-BYOS-Production, … (24 product lines)): Known Not Affected 37, Fixed 14. https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-27820/
ubuntu medium CVE-2026-27820 medium priority: Ubuntu including 7 source packages (jruby, ruby2.3, …), 42 status rows across 9 suites (bionic, focal, jammy, noble, questing, resolute, trusty, upstream, xenial): DNE 21, needs-triage 21. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2026-27820

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2026-27820

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
ruby-lang zlib < 3.0.1 cpe:2.3:a:ruby-lang:zlib:*:*:*:*:*:ruby:*:*
ruby-lang zlib >= 3.1.0, < 3.1.2 cpe:2.3:a:ruby-lang:zlib:*:*:*:*:*:ruby:*:*
ruby-lang zlib >= 3.2.0, < 3.2.3 cpe:2.3:a:ruby-lang:zlib:*:*:*:*:*:ruby:*:*

References for CVE-2026-27820

cvelogic Threat Intelligence