CVE-2026-72854
msgpack-c Integer Overflow in msgpack_unpacker_expand_buffer Causes a False-Success Undersized Reservation
- State
- Published
- Severity
- 5.8 Medium
- Published
- Aug 20, 2026
- Updated
- Sep 24, 2026
- Reserved
- Aug 10, 2026
Description
msgpack_unpacker_expand_buffer in src/unpack.c, reached through the public msgpack_unpacker_reserve_buffer API, computes its new buffer size using an unchecked size_t addition of the requested size and the amount already used. The doubling loop guards its own multiplication against overflow, but the addition in the loop condition is unguarded, so a request near SIZE_MAX wraps: the loop condition is already satisfied, the allocation is performed at the small pre-wrap size, and the function returns true. The caller is told the requested capacity was reserved when it was not, so a subsequent write of the requested length overflows the heap buffer. The library's own example/lib_buffer_unpack.c demonstrates the reserve-then-write pattern, and its defensive assert comparing capacity against the request is compiled out under NDEBUG. msgpack-c's own decode entry points do not derive the reservation size from untrusted input, so reaching this requires an integration that passes an attacker-influenced length to the reservation API, such as a length-prefixed streaming transport.
Scores
| CVSS | Score | Vector | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4.0 | 5.8 Medium | CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:H/AT:P/PR:N/UI:P/VC:N/VI:H/VA:L/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N | VulnCheck |
| 3.1 | 5.3 Medium | CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:L | VulnCheck |
Weaknesses
Affected Products
| Product | Versions |
|---|---|
msgpack-cmsgpack |
|
References
- GitHub Issue #1181issue-tracking
- msgpack_unpacker_expand_buffer at c-7.0.1technical-description
- msgpack_unpacker_reserve_buffer capacity contract at c-7.0.1technical-description
- Shipped example demonstrating the reserve-then-write patterntechnical-description
- https://github.com/msgpack/msgpack-cproduct
- VulnCheck Advisory: msgpack-c Integer Overflow in msgpack_unpacker_expand_buffer Causes a False-Success Undersized Reservationthird-party-advisory
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