CVE-2026-2704
📋 TL;DR
An out-of-bounds read vulnerability in Open Babel's CIF file handler allows remote attackers to read memory beyond allocated buffers. This affects Open Babel users who process untrusted CIF files, potentially exposing sensitive information or causing application crashes.
💻 Affected Systems
- Open Babel
📦 What is this software?
Open Babel by Openbabel
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Remote information disclosure leading to exposure of sensitive memory contents, potentially including credentials or other application data.
Likely Case
Application crash or denial of service when processing malicious CIF files, with possible limited information leakage.
If Mitigated
Minimal impact if proper input validation and memory protections are in place, potentially just causing application termination.
🎯 Exploit Status
Proof-of-concept exploit file available in GitHub repository. Remote exploitation possible via malicious CIF files.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: Not available
Vendor Advisory: Not available
Restart Required: No
Instructions:
No official patch available. Monitor Open Babel GitHub repository for updates.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Disable CIF file processing
allPrevent Open Babel from processing CIF files to avoid triggering the vulnerability
Configure application to reject CIF file format inputs
Input validation for CIF files
allImplement strict validation of CIF files before processing
Add pre-processing validation checks for CIF file structure
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Restrict Open Babel usage to trusted environments only
- Implement network segmentation to limit exposure of vulnerable systems
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check Open Babel version with 'obabel --version' or equivalent commandCheck Version:
obabel --versionVerify Fix Applied:
Test with known malicious CIF file from exploit repository📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Application crashes when processing CIF files
- Memory access violation errors
Network Indicators:
- Unexpected CIF file transfers to Open Babel instances
SIEM Query:
Process:obabel AND (EventID:1000 OR ExceptionCode:c0000005)🔗 References
- https://github.com/VedantMadane/openbabel/commit/e23a224b8fd9d7c2a7cde9ef4ec6afb4c05aa08a
- https://github.com/oneafter/0128/blob/main/ob1/repro.cif
- https://github.com/openbabel/openbabel/issues/2848
- https://github.com/openbabel/openbabel/pull/2862
- https://vuldb.com/?ctiid.346650
- https://vuldb.com/?id.346650
- https://vuldb.com/?submit.754378
