High severity · published Oct 10, 2026
CVE-2026-103636
Apache DataSketches: datasketches-cpp: Out-of-bounds read in VarOpt union deserialization allows denial of service via a truncated sketch
7.5
CVSS
0.4%
EPSS
No
On KEV
Description
Out-of-bounds read in the VarOpt union deserialization of Apache DataSketches C++ (repo: datasketches-cpp).
var_opt_union::deserialize() read the 32-byte preamble of a non-empty union after checking that only 8 bytes were available, so a truncated serialized union could cause a read of up to 24 bytes past the end of the input. For such inputs, the size remaining for the embedded sketch was also computed by an unsigned subtraction that could wrap around, so the embedded sketch's own size checks no longer limited reads to the input. The bytes read can become part of the deserialized union's state. This can cause a crash (denial of service) and could expose adjacent memory contents.
This issue affects Apache DataSketches C++: from 2.0.0-incubating before 5.3.0. Only applications that deserialize VarOpt unions from untrusted sources are affected.
Users are recommended to upgrade to version 5.3.0, which fixes this issue.
CVSS vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High
Scope
Unchanged
Exploitation
Is it being used?
Exploit prediction (EPSS)0.4% · higher than 32% of CVEs
Exploited in the wildNo evidence yet
CISA KEVNot listed
Ransomware campaign useNot known
Affected products
Which versions
AD
Apache DataSketches · Apache Software Foundation
2.0.0-incubating through 5.2.0 · source: vendor
References
NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-103636
CVE.org
https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-103636
vendor-advisory
https://lists.apache.org/thread/znn94s463w7wy125khcywxsp82y2qkq5
release-notes
https://github.com/apache/datasketches-cpp/releases/tag/5.3.0
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