---
id: "CVE-2026-115398"
kind: "vulnerability"
aliases: ["CVE-2026-115398"]
title: "Ghidra: crafted TAR or ZIP archive exhausts memory and hangs session"
severity: "medium"
cvss: 6.8
epss: 0.00121
exploited: false
status: "open"
category: "other"
products: []
ecosystems: []
tags: ["ghidra", "other", "reverse-engineering", "security-research"]
not_affected_if: ["ghidra-12.2-or-later", "no-untrusted-archives"]
published_at: "2026-10-22T20:17:06+00:00"
first_seen_at: "2026-10-23T21:57:32+00:00"
updated_at: "2026-10-25T03:42:43+00:00"
sources: [{"source": "nvd", "url": "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-115398", "first_seen_at": "2026-10-23T21:57:32+00:00"}, {"source": "epss", "url": "https://api.first.org/data/v1/epss?cve=CVE-2026-115398", "first_seen_at": "2026-10-24T07:15:51+00:00"}]
---

# Ghidra: crafted TAR or ZIP archive exhausts memory and hangs session

Ghidra before 12.2 stores an unbounded number of entries when it indexes TAR and ZIP archives through FileSystemIndexHelper. A crafted archive with excessive entries can exhaust the Java heap and hang the session, a denial of service rather than code execution.

_Summary, check and fix written by a model from the sources; labelled as such._

## How to check

- Run `ghidra --version` or check the version shown in the Ghidra About dialog and compare against `12.2`
- Confirm whether the team opens or batch-imports untrusted TAR or ZIP archives in Ghidra

## Fix

- Upgrade Ghidra to `12.2` or later
- Until upgraded, avoid opening or batch-importing archives from untrusted sources

## Timeline

- 2026-10-23T21:57:32+00:00 nvd https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-115398
- 2026-10-24T07:15:51+00:00 epss https://api.first.org/data/v1/epss?cve=CVE-2026-115398

## From the sources

Ghidra before 12.2 contains a resource allocation without limits vulnerability in FileSystemIndexHelper used by TarFileSystem and ZipFileSystem, which store unbounded archive entries. Attackers can persuade a user to open or batch-import a crafted TAR or ZIP archive with excessive entries to exhaust the Java heap and hang the session.

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_Free to read at a human pace. An API with keys and an MCP server are in preparation; early access: hello@infrastack.ai_