PYSEC-2026-2779

Vulnerability from pysec - Published: 2026-07-13 15:46 - Updated: 2026-07-13 16:05
VLAI
Details

Summary

A memory-safety vulnerability in Open Babel's PQS parser allowed an out-of-bounds write when reading a crafted input file.

Details

The flaw was in the coord_file parsing path of the PQS reader. A malformed coord file specifier caused the parser to write past the end of its destination buffer.

Impact

Open Babel is a C++ library and CLI used to read and write chemistry file formats; it is shipped by Linux distributions and embedded in services that may parse untrusted input. Triggering this vulnerability requires the victim to open a malicious PQS file with the obabel tool, the OBConversion API, or any of the language bindings (Python, Ruby, Java, R, Perl, C#, PHP).

Affected versions

All releases up to and including 3.1.1.

Patched version

3.2.0 (released 2026-05-26).

Patch

Fix commit: https://github.com/openbabel/openbabel/commit/2a7d2cda

A minimized reproducer for this CVE is checked in under test/files/fuzz_regress/ and is exercised on every CI build under ASAN+UBSAN by the fuzzregresstest harness.

Credit

Reported by Cisco TALOS.

Severity
7.8 (High)
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Impacted products
Name purl
openbabel pkg:pypi/openbabel
Aliases
To clipboard 

{
  "affected": [
    {
      "package": {
        "ecosystem": "PyPI",
        "name": "openbabel",
        "purl": "pkg:pypi/openbabel"
      },
      "ranges": [
        {
          "events": [
            {
              "introduced": "0"
            },
            {
              "fixed": "3.2.0"
            }
          ],
          "type": "ECOSYSTEM"
        }
      ],
      "versions": [
        "1.8",
        "1.8.1",
        "1.8.2",
        "1.8.3",
        "1.8.4",
        "2.4.0",
        "2.4.1",
        "3.0.0",
        "3.0.0a1",
        "3.1.1",
        "3.1.1.1"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "aliases": [
    "CVE-2022-43467",
    "GHSA-f29h-2h58-48r7"
  ],
  "details": "### Summary\n\nA memory-safety vulnerability in Open Babel\u0027s PQS parser allowed an\nout-of-bounds write when reading a crafted input file.\n\n### Details\n\nThe flaw was in the `coord_file` parsing path of the PQS reader. A\nmalformed coord file specifier caused the parser to write past the\nend of its destination buffer.\n\n### Impact\n\nOpen Babel is a C++ library and CLI used to read and write chemistry\nfile formats; it is shipped by Linux distributions and embedded in\nservices that may parse untrusted input. Triggering this vulnerability\nrequires the victim to open a malicious PQS file with the `obabel`\ntool, the `OBConversion` API, or any of the language bindings (Python,\nRuby, Java, R, Perl, C#, PHP).\n\n### Affected versions\n\nAll releases up to and including 3.1.1.\n\n### Patched version\n\n3.2.0 (released 2026-05-26).\n\n### Patch\n\nFix commit: https://github.com/openbabel/openbabel/commit/2a7d2cda\n\nA minimized reproducer for this CVE is checked in under\n`test/files/fuzz_regress/` and is exercised on every CI build under\nASAN+UBSAN by the `fuzzregresstest` harness.\n\n### Credit\n\nReported by Cisco TALOS.",
  "id": "PYSEC-2026-2779",
  "modified": "2026-07-13T16:05:17.920828Z",
  "published": "2026-07-13T15:46:26.081651Z",
  "references": [
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://github.com/openbabel/openbabel/security/advisories/GHSA-f29h-2h58-48r7"
    },
    {
      "type": "ADVISORY",
      "url": "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-43467"
    },
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://github.com/openbabel/openbabel/commit/2a7d2cda8bd47daade2e555e34b69651a2e132ef"
    },
    {
      "type": "PACKAGE",
      "url": "https://github.com/openbabel/openbabel"
    },
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://talosintelligence.com/vulnerability_reports/TALOS-2022-1671"
    },
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://www.talosintelligence.com/vulnerability_reports/TALOS-2022-1671"
    },
    {
      "type": "PACKAGE",
      "url": "https://pypi.org/project/openbabel"
    },
    {
      "type": "ADVISORY",
      "url": "https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-f29h-2h58-48r7"
    }
  ],
  "severity": [
    {
      "score": "CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H",
      "type": "CVSS_V3"
    }
  ],
  "summary": "Open Babel has out-of-bounds write in PQS coord_file parser"
}



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Forecast uses a logistic model when the trend is rising, or an exponential decay model when the trend is falling. Fitted via linearized least squares.

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Nomenclature

  • Seen: The vulnerability was mentioned, discussed, or observed by the user.
  • Confirmed: The vulnerability has been validated from an analyst's perspective.
  • Published Proof of Concept: A public proof of concept is available for this vulnerability.
  • Exploited: The vulnerability was observed as exploited by the user who reported the sighting.
  • Patched: The vulnerability was observed as successfully patched by the user who reported the sighting.
  • Not exploited: The vulnerability was not observed as exploited by the user who reported the sighting.
  • Not confirmed: The user expressed doubt about the validity of the vulnerability.
  • Not patched: The vulnerability was not observed as successfully patched by the user who reported the sighting.


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