---
id: CVE-2022-46290
title: Open Babel has out-of-bounds write in ORCA nAtoms parser (second variant)
summary: Open Babel has out-of-bounds write in ORCA nAtoms parser (second variant)
severity: high
cvss: 7.8
cwe:
  - CWE-122
  - CWE-787
vendor: openbabel
product: openbabel
ecosystem: pip
affected:
  - openbabel < 3.2.0
patched:
  - openbabel 3.2.0
published: '2026-07-01'
updated: '2026-07-01'
source: GHSA
sourceUrl: 'https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-5rff-8f7c-8jmw'
references:
  - url: >-
      https://github.com/openbabel/openbabel/security/advisories/GHSA-5rff-8f7c-8jmw
  - url: 'https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-46290'
  - url: >-
      https://github.com/openbabel/openbabel/commit/b239d06eb724bb684eea0040e9d87cf07072b081
  - url: 'https://talosintelligence.com/vulnerability_reports/TALOS-2022-1665'
  - url: 'https://www.talosintelligence.com/vulnerability_reports/TALOS-2022-1665'
  - url: 'https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-5rff-8f7c-8jmw'
tags:
  - ghsa
  - pip
epss: 0.00804
epssPercentile: 0.54739
ingestedAt: '2026-07-01T18:15:20.534Z'
---

## Overview

### Summary

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

### Details

A second variant of the `nAtoms` out-of-bounds write in the ORCA
reader: a different malformed-input path produced the same class of
write past the end of the 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 ORCA 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/b239d06e

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.

## Affected packages

- `openbabel < 3.2.0`

## Remediation

Upgrade to a patched release:

- `openbabel 3.2.0`