High severity · published Feb 17, 2026
CVE-2026-25087
Apache Arrow: Potential use-after-free when reading IPC file with pre-buffering
7.0
CVSS
0.9%
EPSS
No
On KEV
Description
Use After Free vulnerability in Apache Arrow C++.
This issue affects Apache Arrow C++ from 15.0.0 through 23.0.0. It can be triggered when reading an Arrow IPC file (but not an IPC stream) with pre-buffering enabled, if the IPC file contains data with variadic buffers (such as Binary View and String View data). Depending on the number of variadic buffers in a record batch column and on the temporal sequence of multi-threaded IO, a write to a dangling pointer could occur. The value (a `std::shared_ptr<Buffer>` object) that is written to the dangling pointer is not under direct control of the attacker.
Pre-buffering is disabled by default but can be enabled using a specific C++ API call (`RecordBatchFileReader::PreBufferMetadata`). The functionality is not exposed in language bindings (Python, Ruby, C GLib), so these bindings are not vulnerable.
The most likely consequence of this issue would be random crashes or memory corruption when reading specific kinds of IPC files. If the application allows ingesting IPC files from untrusted sources, this could plausibly be exploited for denial of service. Inducing more targeted kinds of misbehavior (such as confidential data extraction from the running process) depends on memory allocation and multi-threaded IO temporal patterns that are unlikely to be easily controlled by an attacker.
Advice for users of Arrow C++:
1. check whether you enable pre-buffering on the IPC file reader (using `RecordBatchFileReader::PreBufferMetadata`)
2. if so, either disable pre-buffering (which may have adverse performance consequences), or switch to Arrow 23.0.1 which is not vulnerable
CVSS vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:H
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
High
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Confidentiality
Low
Integrity
Low
Availability
High
Scope
Unchanged
Exploitation
Is it being used?
Exploit prediction (EPSS)0.9% · higher than 60% of CVEs
Exploited in the wildNo evidence yet
CISA KEVNot listed
Ransomware campaign useNot known
Affected products
Which versions
AA
Apache Arrow · Apache Software Foundation
15.0.0 through 23.0.0 · source: vendor
AR
Arrow · Apache
15.0.0 before 23.0.1 · source: NVD
References
NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-25087
CVE.org
https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-25087
Issue Tracking
https://github.com/apache/arrow/pull/48925
Mailing List
https://lists.apache.org/thread/mpm4ld1qony30tchfpjtk5b11tcyvmwh
Mailing List
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2026/02/17/4
