CVE-2026-50256 | Xorg-x11-server: xorg-x11-server-xwayland: xorg-x11-server: stack buffer overflow in font alias resolution due to libxfont2 name length mismatch

A stack-based buffer overflow flaw was found in the X.Org X server and Xwayland. A mismatch between the X server and the libXfont2 library's maximum font name length can cause a stack buffer overflow during font alias resolution. The server allocates a 256 byte stack buffer but libXfont2's alias target name length is 1024 bytes. A font alias name between 257 and 1023 bytes causes the X server to copy that name into the undersized stack buffer without further checks. This may be used to crash the server, or for privilege escalation if the X server runs as root.

Published: 2026-06-05 Last update: 2026-06-08 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]

Conclusion & alert: CVE-2026-50256 is rated Low Risk (31.8/100): CVSS High severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.01%). Mandatory action: Monitor for updates and reassess as exploit intelligence or EPSS changes.

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-2026-50256

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 2026-06-05 0.01%

Full EPSS history (1 record total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2026-50256

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
7.8 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:L)
They already need access on the box, or another person has to do something wrong; it’s not a remote drive-by.
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:L)
A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
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.
1.8 5.9 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2026-50256

GitHub Security Advisory for CVE-2026-50256

GHSA-7gx3-r5q9-6j33 · Severity: high — A stack-based buffer overflow flaw was found in the X.Org X server and Xwayland. A mismatch...

OS Trackers for CVE-2026-50256

vendor priority summary link
debian not yet assigned CVE-2026-50256 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 2 source packages (xorg-server, xwayland), 9 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): open 6, resolved 3. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2026-50256
suse high https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-50256/
ubuntu medium CVE-2026-50256 medium priority: Ubuntu including 7 source packages (xorg, xorg-hwe-16.04, …), 46 status rows across 9 suites (bionic, focal, jammy, noble, questing, resolute, trusty, upstream, xenial): needs-triage 17, DNE 16, not-affected 12, released 1. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2026-50256

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2026-50256

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
x.org x_server < 21.1.23 cpe:2.3:a:x.org:x_server:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
x.org xwayland < 24.1.12 cpe:2.3:a:x.org:xwayland:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux 7.0 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux:7.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux 8.0 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux:8.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux 9.0 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux:9.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux 10.0 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux:10.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2026-50256

cvelogic Threat Intelligence