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GNU Aspell EUVDEUVD-2026-93364

| CVE-2026-75818 LOW
Heap-based Buffer Overflow (CWE-122)
2026-10-06 CERT-PL GHSA-93mw-x5wh-jf8f
1.8
CVSS 4.0 · Vendor: CERT-PL
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Attack ChainAIDerived

Hypothetical attack flow derived from CVE metadata – not a confirmed exploit chain

  1. Access
    Deliver crafted compressed file to user
  2. Delivery
    User runs prezip-bin on file
  3. Exploit
    Decompressor skips buffer bounds check
  4. Execution
    Out-of-bounds heap read/write
  5. Impact
    Process crash (denial of service)

Vulnerability Assessment

Weakness
CWE
ASVS 5.0
V15 - Secure Coding and Architecture Heap buffer bounds checking
MITRE ATT&CK

1 technique across 1 tactic: Execution

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 to supply a specially crafted prezip-compressed file AND to induce a local user to process that file with the prezip-bin decompressor (prog/prezip.c) - this is the explicit prerequisite (UI:A/AV:L). Limiting factors: the attack is local only (no network vector), depends on user interaction (the victim must actively run prezip-bin on the malicious file), and is rated high attack complexity (AC:H), reflecting that reliably triggering the out-of-bounds condition is non-trivial. No authentication is required (PR:N), but the practical reach is confined to systems where users manually process untrusted compressed dictionary data with prezip-bin. Affected versions are those prior to 0.60.8.3.

Impact

This is a genuinely low-priority issue, and multiple signals agree. The CVSS 4.0 vector (AV:L/AC:H/AT:N/PR:N/UI:A/VC:N/VI:N/VA:L) and the resulting 1.8 base score both point to a local-only, user-interaction-dependent, high-complexity bug whose only concrete impact is a process crash (availability). There is no confidentiality or integrity impact to the vulnerable system itself. No EPSS score was provided, the CVE is NOT in CISA KEV, and no public exploit code is referenced - so there is no exploitation-based signal that would elevate it above the low technical score. One point of tension worth flagging: although CWE-122 (heap-based buffer overflow) with out-of-bounds write can in principle escalate to code execution, both the vendor description and the CVSS impact metrics characterize the outcome only as a crash, so the realistic risk is denial-of-service of a command-line tool, not RCE. The input vector's subsequent-system metrics (SC:L/SI:L) are hard to justify for a local file-processing crash and appear generous; I have set them to N in my own assessment. Bottom line: real-world risk is minimal - exploitation requires a local user to be tricked into feeding a crafted file to prezip-bin, and the payoff is a crashed utility.

Exploit ScenarioDerived

An attacker crafts a malicious prezip-compressed file and convinces a local user (e.g., via a downloaded dictionary package or email attachment) to process it with prezip-bin. When the decompressor fails to validate buffer space, the crafted input triggers an out-of-bounds heap read/write, corrupting memory and crashing the process. No public exploit code is referenced, and the documented impact is a crash rather than confirmed code execution.

Monitor Track and reassess. Why: LOW severity (CVSS 0.1-3.9).
Patch available 0.1% exploitation probability (EPSS)

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AnalysisAIv1 – Oct 06, 2026

GNU Aspell's prezip-bin decompressor suffers a heap-based buffer overflow (CWE-122) that lets a crafted prezip-compressed file corrupt heap memory and crash the process. The issue affects Aspell versions prior to 0.60.8.3 and is only reachable through a local chain: an attacker must deliver a malicious compressed file and then persuade a user to run prezip-bin against it, so no privileges are required (PR:N) but user interaction and high attack complexity apply. The assessed impact is availability-only (VC:N/VI:N/VA:L) with a low CVSS 4.0 base score of 1.8 and an equivalent CVSS 3.1 assessment of AV:L/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L; no public exploit code has been identified at time of analysis and there is no CISA KEV listing. Multiple signals - trivial score, local-only vector, interaction requirement and crash-only outcome - converge on a genuinely low-priority issue.

RemediationAI

The upstream fix is commit 15b188437f9e0192d4ac4472ad66a4e2f62a782f, which is slated for release in GNU Aspell 0.60.8.3 - treat this as an upstream fix available (commit) with the released patched version not yet independently confirmed, so upgrade to 0.60.8.3 as soon as it is published or apply the commit patch to your distribution package and rebuild prezip-bin. Until then, the most effective compensating control is to stop running prezip-bin on untrusted input: only decompress dictionary files from vendors or mirrors you trust, and refuse to pass user-supplied .cwl/.prezip archives to prezip-bin, accepting the trade-off that legitimate third-party dictionaries must be vetted or rebuilt from source instead. Where workflows require processing untrusted word lists, run prezip-bin inside a constrained sandbox with a hard memory limit (for example an unprivileged user plus a strict ulimit/RLIMIT_AS and seccomp or a container with a read-only root filesystem), which converts the heap corruption into a contained process crash; this adds operational overhead and may break legitimate large-dictionary decompression if limits are set too tightly. Because the outcome is crash-only and no privilege escalation has been demonstrated, patching can be scheduled as routine maintenance rather than treated as an emergency; consult the CERT-PL advisory at https://cert.pl/en/posts/2026/10/CVE-2026-75818 and http://aspell.net/ for the current release status. No vendor-released patch beyond the pending 0.60.8.3 build should be assumed.

Affected VersionsENISA

aspell 0 <0.60.8.3

Affected Packages

euvd aspell fix: 0.60.8.3

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

Aspell's prezip format is a compressed dictionary/word-list container, and the prezip-bin utility implements both compression and decompression in prog/prezip.c. The decompressor reads length and size fields from the compressed stream to size heap buffers, but per CWE-122 it fails to validate that the declared output or chunk sizes fit the allocated buffer space before reading and writing. A crafted file therefore drives out-of-bounds reads and writes against heap-allocated structures, resulting in memory corruption that manifests as a process crash rather than a controllable primitive - consistent with the assessed availability-only impact (VA:L, with subsequent-system SC:L/SI:L low). The CPE string cpe:2.3:a:gnu:aspell:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* carries a wildcard version, meaning the affected population is defined by release rather than by a CPE version bound: every GNU Aspell build shipped before the 0.60.8.3 release, including prezip-bin as distributed with the upstream tarball and by downstream distributions that package it. Because prezip-bin is normally run on dictionary data obtained from third parties, the realistic exposure surface is users who manually decompress untrusted word-list files.

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Severity by source

Vendor (CERT-PL) PRIMARY 1.8 LOW
CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:H/AT:N/PR:N/UI:A/VC:N/VI:N/VA:L/SC:L/SI:L/SA:N
vuln.today AI 2.5 LOW

Local file processing (AV:L) with required user interaction (UI:R) and non-trivial triggering (AC:H); impact is a crash only, so A:L and C/I:N.

3.1 AV:L/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L
4.0 AV:L/AC:H/AT:N/PR:N/UI:A/VC:N/VI:N/VA:L/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N

Primary rating from Vendor (CERT-PL).

CVSS VectorVendor: CERT-PL

Attack Vector
Local
Attack Complexity
High
Attack Requirements
None
Privileges Required
None
User Interaction
Active
Vulnerable system: Confidentiality
None
Vulnerable system: Integrity
None
Vulnerable system: Availability
Low
Subsequent system: Confidentiality
Low
Subsequent system: Integrity
Low
Subsequent system: Availability
None

Lifecycle Timeline

1
Patch available
Oct 06, 2026 - 12:03 EUVD

DescriptionCVE.org

GNU Aspell prezip-bin contains a heap-based buffer overflow vulnerability in the decompressor in prog/prezip.c. The decompressor does not properly check buffer space, so a crafted compressed file can cause out-of-bounds read and write operations on the heap. An attacker who convinces a user to process a malicious compressed file with prezip-bin can trigger memory corruption, leading to a processs crash.

This issue was fixed in commit 15b188437f9e0192d4ac4472ad66a4e2f62a782f which will be released in version 0.60.8.3.

Threat Intelligence Overview

EPSS Score
0.1%
Top 97% exploitable
Prevalence
Medium
GNU Aspell is common on Linux, but prezip-bin is a niche dictionary utility
Social Media
2
Sightings
Data Quality
6 sources
Confidence: High

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.

SignalValue
Severity LOW
CISA KEV No
Public POC No
EPSS 0.1%
Patch available Yes
Active threat No
Deciding rule
LOW severity (CVSS 0.1-3.9)
What every action level means
Emergency Immediate action required. Criteria: CRITICAL + in CISA KEV (actively exploited) without patch, OR CRITICAL + EPSS > 30% without patch, OR CRITICAL + active threat signals without patch.
Act Now Prioritize within 24-48h. Criteria: in KEV with patch available, OR CRITICAL + public POC, OR HIGH + EPSS > 10%, OR CRITICAL + active threat, OR any CRITICAL severity.
This Week Schedule remediation this week. Criteria: HIGH severity (CVSS 7.0-8.9). Patch within normal change window.
This Month Plan within 30 days. Criteria: MEDIUM severity (CVSS 4.0-6.9), lower exploitation probability. Include in regular patch cycle.
Monitor Track and reassess. Criteria: LOW severity (CVSS 0.1-3.9), minimal exploitation risk. No immediate action needed.

SSVC AssessmentENISA

SSVC Decision· derived
Defer
Exploitation
None
System Exposure· derived
Small
Automatable
No
Human Impact· derived
Low
Technical Impact
Partial

Priority Score

9
Low Medium High Critical
KEV: 0
EPSS: 0
CVSS: +9
PoC: 0
Weaponized: 0
Threat intel: 0
Gov advisory: 0

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.

A heap overflow occurs when a program writes data beyond the bounds of a buffer allocated in the heap memory region.

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