simsong bulk_extractor up to 2.1.1 Unpack::CopyString heap-based overflow

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability was found in simsong bulk_extractor up to 2.1.1. It has been rated as critical. This affects the function Unpack::CopyString. Performing a manipulation results in heap-based overflow. This vulnerability is cataloged as CVE-2026-24857. It is possible to initiate the attack remotely. There is no exploit available.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in simsong bulk_extractor up to 2.1.1. It has been classified as critical. This affects the function Unpack::CopyString. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a heap-based overflow vulnerability. CWE is classifying the issue as CWE-122. A heap overflow condition is a buffer overflow, where the buffer that can be overwritten is allocated in the heap portion of memory, generally meaning that the buffer was allocated using a routine such as malloc(). This is going to have an impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability. The summary by CVE is:

`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.

The advisory is shared at github.com. This vulnerability is uniquely identified as CVE-2026-24857 since 01/27/2026. The exploitability is told to be easy. It is possible to initiate the attack remotely. No form of authentication is needed for exploitation. Technical details are known, but no exploit is available. The price for an exploit might be around USD $0-$5k at the moment (estimation calculated on 02/09/2026).

There is no information about possible countermeasures known. It may be suggested to replace the affected object with an alternative product.

The vulnerability is also documented in the vulnerability database at EUVD (EUVD-2026-4855). Several companies clearly confirm that VulDB is the primary source for best vulnerability data.

Productinfo

Vendor

• simsong

Name

• bulk_extractor

Version

• 2.1.0
• 2.1.1

Website

• Product: https://github.com/simsong/bulk_extractor/

CPE 2.3info

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CPE 2.2info

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Entryinfo

Several companies clearly confirm that VulDB is the primary source for best vulnerability data.

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