CVE-2026-2641 universal-ctags V Language v.c parseExprList recursion
An attacker can cause a denial of service via uncontrolled recursion in the V Language parser of universal-ctags by providing a malicious file.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- Any signed-in user
- Attackable
- Local or same network only
- Victim action needed
- Not needed
- Fix
- None listed
What is CVE-2026-2641?
CVE-2026-2641 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in universal-ctags ctags, published on 18 Feb 2026. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Official description
A weakness has been identified in universal-ctags ctags up to 6.2.1. The affected element is the function parseExpression/parseExprList of the file parsers/v.c of the component V Language Parser. Executing a manipulation can lead to uncontrolled recursion. It is possible to launch the attack on the local host. The exploit has been made available to the public and could be used for attacks. The project was informed of the problem early through an issue report but has not responded yet.
Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-2641?
How do I fix CVE-2026-2641?
No fix has been published for CVE-2026-2641 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.
Upgrade, then put limits on request size, rate and nesting depth so one client cannot exhaust the service. More about Denial of service.
Is CVE-2026-2641 being exploited?
It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2026-2641 exists.
Sources
Also known as AZL-78087, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-2641, GHSA-69fg-c96p-c6fq, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-2641.