Buffer overflow in Msgpack Msgpack-C

CVE-2026-72854

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.

Vulnerability class: Integer Overflow

CVSS v3 metric

CVSS v3 base score 5.3 (Medium). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:L.

Affected products

Weakness classification (CWE)

References

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2026-72854?
CVE-2026-72854 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Msgpack Msgpack-C, classified under Integer Overflow or Wraparound. CVSS score: 5.3/10. Published 2026-08-20.
How severe is CVE-2026-72854?
Medium severity. CVSS v3 base score is 5.3 out of 10.