CVE-2026-54559
Description
A flaw was found in PocketSphinx, a small speech recognizer. Inadequate validation of boundary conditions in language model loaders and unbounded string fields in acoustic model loaders can lead to stack or heap buffer overflows and memory corruption. An attacker with write access to a directory used by PocketSphinx can introduce a malicious model file. When PocketSphinx loads this file, it can result in memory corruption.
Statement
Red Hat Product Security has determined that this vulnerability does not affect any currently supported Red Hat product. This assessment may evolve based on further analysis and discovery. For more information about this vulnerability and the products it affects, please see the linked references.
Mitigation
To mitigate this vulnerability, ensure that directories specified in the POCKETSPHINX_PATH environment variable are secured with appropriate file system permissions, preventing unauthorized users from writing or modifying model files. Only load model files from trusted sources and paths that are protected against tampering.
Understanding the Weakness (CWE)
Integrity,Confidentiality,Availability
Technical Impact: Modify Memory; Execute Unauthorized Code or Commands
Buffer overflows often can be used to execute arbitrary code, which is usually outside the scope of the product's implicit security policy. This can often be used to subvert any other security service.
Availability
Technical Impact: Modify Memory; DoS: Crash, Exit, or Restart; DoS: Resource Consumption (CPU)
Buffer overflows generally lead to crashes. Other attacks leading to lack of availability are possible, including putting the product into an infinite loop.
Frequently Asked Questions
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