A use of uninitialized pointer vulnerability exists in the GRO format res functionality of Open Babel 3.1.1 and master commit 530dbfa3. A…
talos·CWE-824·Published 2023-07-21
A use of uninitialized pointer vulnerability exists in the GRO format res functionality of Open Babel 3.1.1 and master commit 530dbfa3. A specially crafted malformed file can lead to arbitrary code execution. An attacker can provide a malicious file to trigger this vulnerability.
A use of uninitialized pointer vulnerability exists in the GRO format res functionality of Open Babel 3.1.1 and master commit 530dbfa3. A specially crafted malformed file can lead to arbitrary code execution. An attacker can provide a malicious file to trigger this vulnerability.
### Summary A memory-safety vulnerability in Open Babel's GRO parser caused an uninitialized pointer dereference when reading a crafted input file. ### Details The flaw was in the residue handling of the GRO reader. A malformed record caused the parser to use a residue pointer that had never been initialized. ### Impact Open Babel is a C++ library and CLI used to read and write chemistry file formats; it is shipped by Linux distributions and embedded in services that may parse untrusted input. Triggering this vulnerability requires the victim to open a malicious GRO file with the `obabel` tool, the `OBConversion` API, or any of the language bindings (Python, Ruby, Java, R, Perl, C#, PHP). ### Affected versions All releases up to and including 3.1.1. ### Patched version 3.2.0 (released 2026-05-26). ### Patch Fix commit: https://github.com/openbabel/openbabel/commit/fa9a2d9a A minimized reproducer for this CVE is checked in under `test/files/fuzz_regress/` and is exercised on every CI build under ASAN+UBSAN by the `fuzzregresstest` harness. ### Credit Reported by Cisco TALOS.
### Summary A memory-safety vulnerability in Open Babel's GRO parser caused an uninitialized pointer dereference when reading a crafted input file. ### Details The flaw was in the residue handling of the GRO reader. A malformed record caused the parser to use a residue pointer that had never been initialized. ### Impact Open Babel is a C++ library and CLI used to read and write chemistry file formats; it is shipped by Linux distributions and embedded in services that may parse untrusted input. Triggering this vulnerability requires the victim to open a malicious GRO file with the `obabel` tool, the `OBConversion` API, or any of the language bindings (Python, Ruby, Java, R, Perl, C#, PHP). ### Affected versions All releases up to and including 3.1.1. ### Patched version 3.2.0 (released 2026-05-26). ### Patch Fix commit: https://github.com/openbabel/openbabel/commit/fa9a2d9a A minimized reproducer for this CVE is checked in under `test/files/fuzz_regress/` and is exercised on every CI build under ASAN+UBSAN by the `fuzzregresstest` harness. ### Credit Reported by Cisco TALOS.
| Version | Type | Source | Base | Exp | Impact | Vector |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.1 | Primary | cve.org | 9.8 | — | — | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H |
| 3.1 | Primary | cve.org | 9.8 | — | — | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H |
| 3.1 | Primary | NVD | 7.8 | 1.8 | 5.9 | CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H |
| 3.1 | Secondary | NVD | 9.8 | 3.9 | 5.9 | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H |
| 3.1 | Secondary | ENISA EUVD | 9.8 | — | — | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H |
| 3.1 | Secondary | GHSA | 7.8 | — | — | CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H |