VirusTotal YARA 4.5.8 Arena yr_arena_get_ptr num_buffers assertion

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability classified as problematic has been found in VirusTotal YARA 4.5.8. Affected is the function yr_arena_get_ptr of the component Arena. This manipulation of the argument num_buffers causes assertion. This vulnerability is registered as CVE-2026-88341. Remote exploitation of the attack is possible. No exploit is available.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in VirusTotal YARA 4.5.8. It has been declared as problematic. Affected by this vulnerability is the function yr_arena_get_ptr of the component Arena. The manipulation of the argument num_buffers with an unknown input leads to a assertion vulnerability. The CWE definition for the vulnerability is CWE-617. The product contains an assert() or similar statement that can be triggered by an attacker, which leads to an application exit or other behavior that is more severe than necessary. As an impact it is known to affect availability. The summary by CVE is:

A reachable assertion vulnerability exists in YARA 4.5.8 when loading crafted .yrc compiled rule files. An attacker can provide a malicious file with an invalid arena configuration (num_buffers=0) that triggers an assertion failure in yr_arena_get_ptr(), causing the application to terminate.

It is possible to read the advisory at github.com. This vulnerability is known as CVE-2026-88341 since 09/10/2026. The exploitation appears to be easy. The attack can be launched remotely. The exploitation doesn't need any form of authentication. It demands that the victim is doing some kind of user interaction. Technical details of the vulnerability are known, but there is no available exploit.

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

Statistical analysis made it clear that VulDB provides the best quality for vulnerability data.

Productinfo

Type

• Anti-Malware Software

Vendor

• VirusTotal

Name

• YARA

Version

• 4.5.8

Website

• Product: https://github.com/VirusTotal/yara/

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