# CVE-2026-24881: Memory corruption in GnuPG

> A crafted S/MIME message triggers a stack buffer overflow in gpg-agent, allowing attackers to cause denial of service or potentially execute arbitrary code.

- **Severity:** High 8.1 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 27 Jan 2026
- **Updated:** 15 Jul 2026
- **Also known as:** GHSA-5w36-x85h-pphm, JLSEC-2026-564

## What is CVE-2026-24881?

CVE-2026-24881 is a high-severity memory corruption vulnerability in GnuPG, published on 27 Jan 2026. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

In GnuPG before 2.5.17, a crafted CMS (S/MIME) EnvelopedData message carrying an oversized wrapped session key can cause a stack-based buffer overflow in gpg-agent during PKDECRYPT--kem=CMS handling. This can easily be leveraged for denial of service; however, there is also memory corruption that could lead to remote code execution.

Weakness: CWE-121 (Stack-based Buffer Overflow)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-24881?

It affects 2 products.


Products: Gnupg Gnupg, Gpg4win Gpg4win.

## How do I fix CVE-2026-24881?

Upgrade to a fixed version.

## Is CVE-2026-24881 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-24881 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in GnuPG

- [CVE-2022-3515](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-3515/): Integer overflow in libksba (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2008-1530](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2008-1530/): Memory corruption in n/a (critical 9.3)
- [CVE-2026-24882](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-24882/): Memory corruption in GnuPG (high 8.4)
- [CVE-2025-68973](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-68973/): Memory corruption in GnuPG (high 7.8)
- [CVE-2020-25125](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-25125/): Memory corruption in n/a (high 7.8)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-24881 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-24881 is a high-severity memory corruption vulnerability in GnuPG, published on 27 Jan 2026. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-24881 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: GnuPG. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-24881/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-24881/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-24881
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-24881
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-24881

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-24881/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.