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