CVE-2026-2704 Open Babel CIF File transform3d.cpp DescribeAsString out-of-bounds
An out-of-bounds read in Open Babel's CIF handler allows remote attackers to cause denial of service or disclose information.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- Not needed
- Attackable
- Over the internet
- Victim action needed
- A user has to click or open something
- Fix
- Available
What is CVE-2026-2704?
CVE-2026-2704 is a medium-severity memory corruption vulnerability in Open Babel, published on 19 Feb 2026. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.
Official description
A security vulnerability has been detected in Open Babel up to 3.1.1. The affected element is the function OpenBabel::transform3d::DescribeAsString of the file src/math/transform3d.cpp of the component CIF File Handler. The manipulation leads to out-of-bounds read. It is possible to initiate the attack remotely. The exploit has been disclosed publicly and may be used. Upgrading to version 3.2.0 is sufficient to fix this issue. The identifier of the patch is e23a224b8fd9d7c2a7cde9ef4ec6afb4c05aa08a. It is suggested to install a patch to address this issue.
Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-2704?
3 open source packages ship an affected version, including openbabel. It affects 1 product.
| Package | Affected | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
openbabel PyPI | All versions | 3.2.0 |
openbabel PyPI | All versions | 3.2.0 |
openbabel PyPI | All versions | 3.2.0 |
Products include Openbabel Open Babel.
How do I fix CVE-2026-2704?
Upgrade openbabel to 3.2.0 or later.
Upgrade to the fixed version. Memory-safe languages, compiler hardening and fuzzing prevent most new cases. More about Memory corruption.
Is CVE-2026-2704 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-2704 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Other vulnerabilities in Open Babel
- CVE-2022-41793 Open Babel has out-of-bounds write in CSR PadString (title field)
- CVE-2022-42885 Open Babel has uninitialized pointer dereference in GRO residue parser
- CVE-2022-43467 Open Babel has out-of-bounds write in PQS coord_file parser
- CVE-2022-44451 Open Babel has uninitialized pointer dereference in MSI atom parser
- CVE-2022-46280 Open Babel has uninitialized pointer dereference in PQS pFormat
Sources
Also known as DEBIAN-CVE-2026-2704, GHSA-6xw4-2g22-26h8, PYSEC-2026-2774, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-2704.