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Run curl --version (or curl -V) and read the first line. If the reported curl or libcurl version is from 8.12.0 through 8.22.0 inclusive, update to 8.23.0 or install a vendor package that includes the CVE-2026-92392 fix. If your software embeds libcurl, check that library separately: the curl executable in your shell may not be the library your application uses.
Quick answer: what to check
Project curl published its CVE-2026-92392 advisory on October 14, 2026. The issue is a high-severity CWE-416 use-after-free that can occur during an HTTP/2 upload when the server sends an RST_STREAM with reason HTTP_1_1_REQUIRED or REFUSED_STREAM. The command-line tool is affected as well as libcurl.
| Version reported by the component you checked | Status for CVE-2026-92392 | Recommended action |
|---|---|---|
| 8.12.0 through 8.22.0, inclusive | Affected | Upgrade to 8.23.0 or a vendor build containing the fix. Patch locally if an immediate package update is not available. |
| 8.23.0 or newer | Not affected by this advisory | Keep normal patching and inventory practices in place. |
| Before 8.12.0 | Not affected by this advisory | Do not treat that as a general security guarantee; older releases can have unrelated defects and may be unsupported. |
The curl project lists 8.23.0 as the mainline fixed release, published October 14, 2026. It also lists fixed releases for maintained branches: 8.14.3, 8.16.2 and 8.20.2. A distribution may backport the fix without using one of those exact upstream version strings, so package security metadata matters in addition to the number printed by a binary.
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During an upload over HTTP/2, curl mishandles a reset stream from the server. The advisory describes the result as “leading to a use after free of a struct Curl_easy object.” A use-after-free means code can continue to access memory after the object occupying that memory has been released. The immediate failure may be a crash, but memory-corruption bugs can have more serious consequences depending on runtime conditions.
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The advisory says turning this flaw into remote code execution requires a particular combination of known version and architecture details, allocator and TLS behavior, heap layout, parallel-transfer timing, memory leaks and offsets, plus a short-command constraint. Those requirements make exploitation more conditional than simply sending any upload request. They do not make an affected installation safe: the documented severity is High, and the vulnerable code path exists in both libcurl and the curl command-line tool.
Check the curl command-line executable
1. Print the version and feature information
On the machine that performs the upload, run:
curl --version
# equivalent short form:
curl -VThe first line normally contains the curl tool version and the linked libcurl version, for example a line shaped like curl 8.23.0 (...) libcurl/8.23.0 .... Record both values exactly, including all three components of the X.Y.Z version. The remaining lines describe protocols and build features; they are useful for confirming whether HTTP/2 support is present, but the version comparison starts with the first line.
2. Confirm which executable you actually ran
Multiple curl copies are common on developer workstations, build hosts and servers. A shell can find one copy while an automation job uses another directory. Record the path with the command appropriate to the operating system:
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where curl # WindowsRun the version command through the same account, service wrapper or job environment that performs the upload. A system service may have a different PATH from your interactive shell. If the path points into an application directory, container image or vendor bundle, inventory that copy independently rather than assuming the operating system package controls it.
3. Read the version without guessing
Compare the numeric version in the first line against the inclusive affected interval in the table above. Do not compare only the major number, and do not treat a string comparison as a numeric comparison: 8.9.0, 8.12.0 and 8.22.0 have different minor and patch positions. Curl versions use X.Y.Z, where X is the main version, Y is the release number and Z is the patch number.
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If the output contains a vendor suffix, preserve it when opening a support ticket or checking security notices. A vendor can backport a security change while retaining its distribution-specific release notation. In that case, use the vendor’s package advisory or changelog to establish whether CVE-2026-92392 is included.
Check a development installation
Use curl-config when it is installed
Development files can belong to a different installation from the executable used in your shell. Run:
curl-config --versionThis reports the version associated with the development installation. It is especially relevant when compiling software that links against libcurl. If curl-config is missing, that does not prove that libcurl is absent; it may simply mean the development package is not installed or the tool is outside your PATH.
Inspect the version header for source builds
For a source tree or header-based build, inspect curl/curlver.h and its LIBCURL_VERSION_NUM definition. The curl documentation defines this value as 0xXXYYZZ, with hexadecimal fields for the major, minor and patch numbers. Larger values represent newer releases. Check the header that belongs to the build being compiled, not an unrelated copy elsewhere on the machine.
A development header can therefore disagree with a runtime shared library. Treat the header, the linker’s library and the application’s loaded library as separate inventory items until you have confirmed they come from the same installation.
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Find the libcurl used by an application
An application can embed libcurl or load it dynamically without exposing a curl command in its user interface. Checking your shell’s executable is not enough for that case. The goal is to identify the actual package or shared library loaded by the process that performs the upload.
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Start with the application’s dependency information
- Identify every application, service, language runtime or scheduled job that performs the upload.
- Open that product’s dependency report, build manifest or support bundle and look for libcurl, a curl package, or a statically bundled curl component.
- Record whether the component is supplied by the operating system, a container image, the application vendor, or a source build.
- Use the operating system’s package metadata or the application’s own inventory mechanism to obtain the installed library version. Package names and commands differ by operating system and vendor, so follow the syntax documented for that environment rather than applying a command from another platform.
- If the application loads a shared library, identify the file actually loaded at runtime and compare that library’s package record with the affected interval.
Containerized and bundled software deserves special attention. Updating the host’s curl package does not automatically change a library copied into an image or shipped inside an application directory. Conversely, updating a command-line package does not necessarily update a library linked into a separately installed runtime.
Check static and dynamically loaded copies
A dynamically linked application normally obtains libcurl from a shared-library location managed by the operating system or the application. A statically linked application can contain curl code inside its own executable, so there may be no standalone library file to query. In that situation, use the application’s build record, release notes or vendor security statement to determine which curl/libcurl source version was incorporated.
When several copies exist, make a small inventory containing the executable path, library path or package name, reported version, owning service and update owner. This prevents a fixed developer workstation from masking an affected production worker.
Interpret version results correctly
| What you checked | What the result tells you | What it does not tell you |
|---|---|---|
curl --version or curl -V |
The curl tool and the libcurl linked to that executable, plus build features. | It does not identify libcurl embedded in another application. |
curl-config --version |
The development installation used by the curl-config tool. | It does not prove that every runtime process loads the same library. |
LIBCURL_VERSION_NUM in curl/curlver.h |
The version represented by that header set. | It does not prove that a deployed binary was linked against those headers. |
| Operating-system package metadata | The version and vendor status of the packaged library or executable. | A bundled, containerized or statically linked copy may be outside that package. |
| Application dependency or runtime report | The library selected by that application, when the report is accurate and current. | It may not cover a second worker, image tag or scheduled job using another build. |
Choose a remediation path
Preferred: upgrade to the mainline fixed release
For a component in the affected interval, install curl/libcurl 8.23.0 or a vendor package that explicitly contains the CVE-2026-92392 fix. Update both the command-line tool and the library where both are deployed. If your organization receives security fixes through an operating-system or application vendor, follow that vendor’s package channel rather than replacing a managed library with an unrelated binary.
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Use a fixed maintained branch when required
If compatibility policy keeps you on a maintained branch, the advisory lists 8.14.3 for the 8.14.x branch, 8.16.2 for 8.16.x and 8.20.2 for 8.20.x. Confirm that the branch release is the package actually delivered to the affected host and that dependent applications restart or reload the updated library.
Apply the official patch to a source build
The advisory permits applying the official patch locally when an immediate release update is not operationally possible. Limit this route to a controlled build process: keep the patch and source version recorded, rebuild every artifact that embeds libcurl, run the application’s normal tests, deploy through the same change controls as any other security fix, and schedule replacement with a maintained vendor or upstream release.
Use HTTP/1.1 as a temporary mitigation
If you cannot remediate immediately, avoid HTTP/2 for the affected upload path. Use the client or application setting that forces HTTP/1.1, and verify from logs or protocol diagnostics that the upload is not negotiating HTTP/2. This is a stopgap: it removes the triggering protocol path but does not repair the vulnerable code, so it should remain in place only until the library is upgraded or patched.
Update and verify step by step
- Make an inventory. List interactive curl installations, automation workers, service hosts, containers, language runtimes and bundled applications that can upload over HTTP/2.
- Capture a baseline. Save each executable path, library path or package name and the exact version before changing it. This makes it possible to identify a missed copy later.
- Apply the approved fix. Install 8.23.0, an applicable fixed branch package, a vendor build containing the fix, or the official patch in a controlled source build.
- Restart consumers. Processes that loaded the old shared library can continue using it until they restart. Restart the service, worker, scheduler or container that performs uploads according to your normal change procedure.
- Re-run the checks. Execute
curl --version,curl-config --versionand the relevant application dependency report again. Check the loaded library, not merely the package downloaded to disk. - Confirm the protocol policy. If HTTP/1.1 was used as a temporary mitigation, remove that restriction only after the fixed library is active and the upload path has been tested.
- Close the inventory. Record the new version, update source, deployment time and any systems that were intentionally retired or isolated.
Troubleshooting common results
“My shell shows 8.23.0, but the application is still exposed”
The application may load a different libcurl from a bundled directory, container image or language runtime. Repeat the check using the application’s dependency report and runtime-loaded library. Also inspect scheduled jobs and service accounts, which often have a separate executable path.
“The package version is not 8.23.0, but the vendor says it is fixed”
Do not reject a vendor package solely because its visible version differs from upstream. Vendors can backport a security patch while retaining their own release numbering. Obtain the vendor’s security record for CVE-2026-92392 and keep that record with the host inventory. If the vendor cannot establish that the fix is present, treat the component as unresolved and use the temporary HTTP/1.1 mitigation where practical.
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“curl is not installed, so am I safe?”
Not necessarily. A service can embed libcurl, statically link it, or ship a private copy without installing a curl command. Search application dependencies, container contents and build manifests for libcurl or curl source code.
“The version is older than 8.12.0”
That version is outside the affected range for this specific advisory, but age alone is not a security assessment. Older releases may lack unrelated fixes, may no longer receive maintenance and may be incompatible with current security requirements. Plan an upgrade based on your normal lifecycle policy.
“The command is missing on Windows or Unix-like systems”
The executable may not be installed, may be outside the current PATH, or may be supplied only inside an application or container. Use the platform’s executable-location facility, inspect the application package, and ask the package owner for the installed libcurl version. Do not infer a version from a failed command.
“The upload failed after enabling HTTP/1.1”
Forcing HTTP/1.1 can expose a server or proxy that was configured only for HTTP/2. Treat the failure as a compatibility issue to troubleshoot separately, while keeping the affected upload path off HTTP/2 until the library is fixed. If the path cannot operate safely under HTTP/1.1, prioritize an immediate library update or patched rebuild instead of silently restoring HTTP/2.
Operational checklist
- Run
curl --versionorcurl -Von every host that performs uploads. - Record the executable path with
command -v curlorwhere curl. - Check development installations with
curl-config --versionand inspect the correctcurl/curlver.hwhen building from source. - Inventory embedded, dynamically loaded, statically linked and containerized libcurl copies separately.
- Compare each component with the affected interval in the version table, including vendor release notes for backported fixes.
- Upgrade to 8.23.0, install a fixed branch or vendor build, or apply the official patch under controlled build procedures.
- Use HTTP/1.1 only as a temporary mitigation when immediate remediation is unavailable.
- Restart processes, recheck loaded libraries and document the final version for each upload path.
Source and advisory context
The findings summarized here come from Project curl’s security advisory for CVE-2026-92392, published October 14, 2026, and the curl project’s release information. The advisory explicitly states that the flaw also affects the curl command-line tool, while the release information distinguishes the separately versioned curl and libcurl components that usually track one another closely.
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