Attack ChainAIDerived
Hypothetical attack flow derived from CVE metadata – not a confirmed exploit chain
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AccessCraft malicious InstallShield cabinet
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DeliveryDeliver file to victim or automated consumer
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ExploitVictim processes file with unshield/libunshield
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ExecutionTrigger OOB read in unshield_get_file_table()
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ImpactCrash tool or consuming application (DoS)
Vulnerability Assessment
| Weakness |
CWE
ASVS 5.0
V15 - Secure Coding and Architecture Bounds checking, read limits
MITRE ATT&CK
1 technique across 1 tactic: Collection The technique list with ATT&CK links and the kill-chain view is part of the Basic plan and up. |
| Exploitation Conditions | Exploitation requires an attacker-supplied, crafted InstallShield cabinet file containing an out-of-range file_table_offset or an abnormally large file count, which must then be parsed by the unshield command-line tool or an application linking libunshield - i.e., the victim or an automated pipeline must actively process the malicious file (UI:P / local vector). Limiting factors: no remote network vector (AV:L), the attack cannot be triggered without the target processing the file, and the realistic impact is confined to a crash/denial of service (VA:H; VC:N/VI:N) rather than code execution or data theft. Affects unshield versions up to and including 1.6.2. |
| Impact | This is a medium-severity (CVSS 4.0 base 6.8) memory-safety defect whose real-world risk is modest. The provided CVSS 4.0 vector (AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:P/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H) describes a local, low-complexity flaw that requires passive user interaction and yields only an availability impact (a crash) - there is no confidentiality or integrity impact per the vector. Publicly available exploit code exists (referenced VulnCheck advisory and a hackmd write-up), which raises the chance of opportunistic reproduction, but there is NO CISA KEV listing and no EPSS score was supplied, so there is no evidence of active or widespread exploitation. SSVC-style reasoning points to low priority: exploitation is file/consumer-triggered rather than automatable at scale, and technical impact is limited to denial of service of the unshield tool or a library consumer. One signal conflict to verify: the 'Information Disclosure' tag and the CWE-125 out-of-bounds READ nature suggest potential memory disclosure, yet the authoritative CVSS 4.0 vector sets VC:N (no confidentiality impact) and VA:H - i.e., the demonstrated impact is a crash, not data leakage; treat any info-disclosure claim as unconfirmed and verify with the VulnCheck advisory. |
| Exploit ScenarioDerived | An attacker crafts a malicious InstallShield cabinet file with an out-of-range file_table_offset or an inflated file count and gets a victim to process it with the unshield tool or an application that embeds libunshield. When unshield_get_file_table() parses the attacker-controlled header, it reads past the heap allocation and crashes the process. Publicly available proof-of-concept exploit code demonstrates the heap out-of-bounds read. |
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Alert meAnalysisAIv1 – Oct 14, 2026
An out-of-bounds heap read in unshield through 1.6.2 lets a crafted InstallShield cabinet file with an out-of-range file_table_offset or an abnormally large file count crash the unshield command-line tool or any application linking libunshield. Exploitation is local and requires the victim or an automated pipeline to actively open the malicious .cab file (CVSS 4.0 base 6.8; assessed 3.1 as AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R with availability-only impact). Publicly available exploit code exists, but the realistic outcome is denial of service - no code execution or data disclosure has been demonstrated - and there is no evidence of confirmed active exploitation (CISA KEV).
RemediationAI
No vendor-released patch was identified at time of analysis: the vulnerable code path is publicly visible in unshield through 1.6.2, but no fixed release version is confirmed in the available data, so teams should track the upstream repository (https://github.com/twogood/unshield) and apply a patched build as soon as it is tagged. Until then, treat all InstallShield cabinet files as untrusted input: do not run unshield or libunshield-based extraction in automated pipelines on files from untrusted sources without first validating the cabinet header (file_table_offset within the declared/actual buffer length and file counts matching the real table), since malformed values are the direct trigger. Where validation is not possible, isolate extraction in a sandboxed or resource-limited process (separate user, seccomp/AppArmor confinement, ulimit/cgroup CPU and memory limits) so a crash cannot take down the host service, and avoid linking libunshield into long-running privileged processes that consume third-party .cab files; the trade-off is reduced or unavailable extraction capability for untrusted cabinets. The public VulnCheck advisory (https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/unshield-through-1.6.2-heap-out-of-bounds-read-via-unshield-get-file-table) and the published write-up at https://hackmd.io/@haind-pwn/unshield-header-filetable-oob-read should be consulted for the exact triggering conditions and any updated fix guidance.
Affected VersionsENISA
Affected Packages
Source: OSV (Open Source Vulnerabilities)
Affects your stack
Affects 1 package in euvd
Checking this CVE against your own stacks and servers is part of the Basic plan and up.
Technical ContextAI · show details
The defect is a CWE-125 out-of-bounds read rooted in libunshield's unshield_get_file_table() routine (lib/libunshield.c, referenced around line 195 in the upstream repository). InstallShield cabinet (.cab) headers carry a file_table_offset and a file count that the library uses to locate the internal file table; the vulnerable code trusts these header-supplied values without validating them against the size of the heap buffer actually allocated for the cabinet data. Supplying a file_table_offset that points past the allocation, or a file count large enough to walk past the end of the buffer, causes the parser to read adjacent heap memory. Because the bad values originate in attacker-controlled file bytes, the bug is reachable whenever unshield or a libunshield consumer parses an untrusted cabinet. The AV:L / UI:P(UI:R) vector reflects that the malicious file must be supplied and processed locally rather than being triggerable over the network, and the C:N/I:N/A:H profile reflects that the practical consequence of the OOB read is a crash rather than corruption, code execution, or memory disclosure.
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Severity by source
CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:P/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
Attack needs a local crafted file processed by the user (AV:L, UI:R); no privileges required (PR:N); demonstrated impact is a crash only, so C:N/I:N/A:H.
Primary rating from Vendor (VulnCheck).
CVSS VectorVendor: VulnCheck
DescriptionCVE.org
unshield through 1.6.2 contains a heap out-of-bounds read vulnerability in unshield_get_file_table() that allows attackers to read past heap allocations via unchecked cabinet header offsets. Attackers can supply a crafted InstallShield cabinet with out-of-range file_table_offset or large file counts to crash the unshield tool or library consumers.
Threat Intelligence Overview
How this decision was reached
The engine reads each signal below and applies a fixed list of rules from top to bottom. The first rule that matches sets the recommended action – like a statement, every line is shown.
What every action level means
SSVC AssessmentENISA
Priority Score
Attack Technique
A buffer overflow occurs when a program writes more data to a memory buffer than it was allocated to hold, causing the excess data to spill into adjacent memory regions.
Information disclosure occurs when an application unintentionally exposes sensitive data that aids attackers in reconnaissance or directly compromises security.
EUVD-2026-101139
GHSA-vcw2-wv74-jx7g
NVD
CVE.org
EPSS
Exploit-DB