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CVE-2026-103658: CWE-122 Heap-based Buffer Overflow in GNU Aspell

0
Medium
VulnerabilityCVE-2026-103658cvecve-2026-103658cwe-122
Published: 10/12/2026 (10/12/2026, 21:24:48 UTC)
Source: CVE Database V5
Vendor/Project: GNU
Product: Aspell

Description

GNU Aspell through 0.60.8.2 contains a heap-based buffer overflow write (CWE-122) in its read-only dictionary loader. String::reserve() in common/string.hpp computes its capacity check with a signed int ((int)s + 1), so a requested size of 0x7FFFFFFF wraps negative and the backing buffer is never grown. ReadOnlyDict::load() in modules/speller/default/readonly_ws.cpp passes the unvalidated 32-bit size fields from a .rws dictionary header into this path, so a crafted .rws file with a valid endian marker (12345678) and an oversized length field (e.g. lang_name_size = 0x7FFFFFFF) causes attacker-controlled data to be written out of bounds past an undersized heap allocation. An attacker who induces a victim to load a malicious dictionary — for example via aspell dump master <file> — can corrupt heap memory, resulting in denial of service and potentially code execution. Fixed in 0.60.8.3.

CVSS v3.1

Score 5.9medium

Attack Vector
Local
Attack Complexity
Low
Privileges Required
None
User Interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
Low
Integrity
Low
Availability
Low
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:L

Affected software

GNU

Aspell

Affected versions
>=0.60.8.2 <0.60.8.3

Technical Details

Data Version
5.2
Assigner Short Name
Anthropic
Date Reserved
2026-10-01T08:19:42.892Z
Cvss Version
3.1
State
PUBLISHED

Threat ID: 6acd52432cdf04f656d94f14

Added to database: 10/12/2026, 21:33:55 UTC

Last updated: 10/12/2026, 21:33:55 UTC

Views: 1

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