CVE-2026-88340
Low risk· EPSS 5%Exploitation Probability (EPSS)
Low risk5th percentile - higher than 5% of all known CVEs
Summary
An invalid pointer release vulnerability exists in YARA 4.5.8 during deserialization of compiled .yrc rule files. The vulnerability is caused by insufficient validation of external-variable pointers, which may lead to invalid free in yr_rules_destroy() or wild pointer access in yr_object_create(). An attacker can provide a specially crafted .yrc file that causes memory corruption and application crash.
Risk Assessment
An attacker can remotely cause memory corruption and crash an application using YARA, resulting in a denial of service. In extreme cases, memory corruption could be exploited to execute arbitrary code.
Recommendation
Update YARA to a version newer than 4.5.8 once a fix is released. Until then, do not load .yrc files from untrusted sources.
Other vulnerabilities in YARA
See all- CVE-2017-9465High
The yr_arena_write_data function in YARA 3.6.1 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (buffer over-read and application crash) or obtain sensitive information from process memory via a crafted file mishandled in the yr_re_fast_exec and _yr_scan_match_callback functions.
- CVE-2017-9438High
The regexp module in YARA 3.5.0 contains a vulnerability that allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (stack consumption) via a crafted rule involving hex strings, mishandled in the _yr_re_emit function.
- CVE-2017-9304High
The regexp module in YARA 3.5.0 contains a vulnerability that allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (stack consumption) via a crafted rule mishandled in the _yr_re_emit function.
- CVE-2017-8929High
The sized_string_cmp function in libyara/sizedstr.c in YARA 3.5.0 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (use-after-free and application crash) via a crafted rule.
- CVE-2017-8294High
The regex component in YARA 3.5.0 has a vulnerability that allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service through a crafted rule, leading to out-of-bounds read and application crash.
- CVE-2017-5924High
YARA 3.5.0 has a vulnerability that allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service through a crafted rule mishandled in the yr_compiler_destroy function, leading to a use-after-free error and application crash.
- CVE-2017-5923High
YARA 3.5.0 has a vulnerability that allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service through a crafted rule, leading to a heap-based out-of-bounds read and application crash.
- CVE-2016-10211High
YARA 3.5.0 has a vulnerability that allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service through a crafted rule mishandled in the yr_parser_lookup_loop_variable function, leading to a use-after-free error and application crash.
- CVE-2016-10210High
In YARA 3.5.0, a vulnerability allows remote attackers to cause application crashes via a crafted rule, leading to a NULL pointer dereference in the yy_get_next_buffer function.
- CVE-2026-88341Medium
A reachable assertion vulnerability exists in YARA 4.5.8 when loading crafted .yrc compiled rule files. An attacker can provide a malicious file with an invalid arena configuration (num_buffers=0) that triggers an assertion failure in yr_arena_get_ptr(), causing the application to terminate.
Original NVD description (English source)
An invalid pointer release vulnerability exists in YARA 4.5.8 during deserialization of compiled .yrc rule files. The vulnerability is caused by insufficient validation of external-variable pointers, which may lead to invalid free in yr_rules_destroy() or wild pointer access in yr_object_create(). An attacker can provide a specially crafted .yrc file that causes memory corruption and application crash.
Vulnerability data from NVD (NIST) · CISA KEV · EPSS