Critical severity · published Jan 28, 2026
CVE-2026-24857
bulk_extractor has Heap-based Buffer Overflow vulnerability
9.8
CVSS
0.4%
EPSS
No
On KEV
Description
`bulk_extractor` is a digital forensics exploitation tool. Starting in version 1.4, `bulk_extractor`’s embedded unrar code has a heap‑buffer‑overflow in the RAR PPM LZ decoding path. A crafted RAR inside a disk image causes an out‑of‑bounds write in `Unpack::CopyString`, leading to a crash under ASAN (and likely a crash or memory corruption in production builds). There's potential for using this for RCE. As of time of publication, no known patches are available.
CVSS vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High
Scope
Unchanged
Exploitation
Is it being used?
Exploit prediction (EPSS)0.4% · higher than 38% of CVEs
Exploited in the wildNo evidence yet
CISA KEVNot listed
Ransomware campaign useNot known
Affected products
Which versions
BU
bulk_extractor · simsong
>= 1.4, <= 2.1.1 · source: vendor
BE
Bulk Extractor · Simsong
1.4 and later · source: NVD
