---
id: CVE-2026-103658
title: >-
  GNU Aspell 0.60.8.2 (first vulnerable version is not known) contains a
  heap-based buffer overflow write (CWE-122) in its read-only dictionary loader
summary: >-
  GNU Aspell 0.60.8.2 (first vulnerable version is not known) contains a
  heap-based buffer overflow write (CWE-122) in its read-only dictionary loader.
  String::reserve() in common/string.hpp computes its capacity check with a
  signed int ((…
severity: medium
cvss: 5.9
cvssVector: 'CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:L'
cwe:
  - CWE-122
published: '2026-10-12'
updated: '2026-10-12'
sourceUpdated: '2026-10-12T23:17:19.700'
source: NVD
sourceUrl: 'https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-103658'
references:
  - url: >-
      https://github.com/GNUAspell/aspell/security/advisories/GHSA-p35p-2mw5-fj5j
    label: 98a01053-8a31-4f6d-9aa9-252be161adc6
tags:
  - nvd
ingestedAt: '2026-10-12T23:07:25.633Z'
---

## Overview

GNU Aspell 0.60.8.2 (first vulnerable version is not known) contains a heap-based buffer overflow write (CWE-122) in its read-only dictionary loader. String::reserve() in common/string.hpp computes its capacity check with a signed int ((int)s + 1), so a requested size of 0x7FFFFFFF wraps negative and the backing buffer is never grown. ReadOnlyDict::load() in modules/speller/default/readonly_ws.cpp passes the unvalidated 32-bit size fields from a .rws dictionary header into this path, so a crafted .rws file with a valid endian marker (12345678) and an oversized length field (e.g. lang_name_size = 0x7FFFFFFF) causes attacker-controlled data to be written out of bounds past an undersized heap allocation. An attacker who induces a victim to load a malicious dictionary — for example via aspell dump master <file> — can corrupt heap memory, resulting in denial of service and potentially code execution. Fixed in b830b6e and will be fixed in release 0.60.8.3.

## Remediation

Refer to the linked advisories for vendor-supplied fixes and affected version ranges.