CVE-2026-49496 Ghidra < 12.1 - Heap-Use-After-Free in SleighBuilder::generatePointerAdd via Vector Reallocation

What is CVE-2026-49496?

CVE-2026-49496 is a medium-severity use after free vulnerability in nationalsecurityagency ghidra, published on 10 Jun 2026. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.

Official description

Ghidra before 12.1 contains a heap-use-after-free vulnerability in SleighBuilder::generatePointerAdd caused by iterator invalidation when PcodeCacher::allocateInstruction reallocates the issued vector. Attackers can trigger memory corruption by decompiling malicious binaries through the public Sleigh::oneInstruction C++ API, affecting downstream SLEIGH library consumers.

Weakness: CWE-416

Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-49496?

It affects 1 product.

Products include Nsa Ghidra.

How do I fix CVE-2026-49496?

No fix has been published for CVE-2026-49496 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

Upgrade to the fixed version. These bugs are found with fuzzing and sanitisers and avoided by memory-safe languages. More about Use after free.

Is CVE-2026-49496 being exploited?

It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2026-49496 exists.

Other vulnerabilities in nationalsecurityagency ghidra

• CVE-2023-22671 Command injection in n/a Critical 9.8
• CVE-2019-16941 XML external entity in n/a Critical 9.8
• CVE-2019-13625 XML external entity in n/a Critical 9.1
• CVE-2026-4946 NSA Ghidra Auto-Analysis Annotation Command Execution High 8.8
• CVE-2026-49498 Ghidra 11.0 < 12.1 - SQL Injection in PostgreSQL Password Change via Unescaped Username High 8.7

Sources

• CVE record
• NVD
• OSV
• GitHub advisory
• How this page is made

Also known as GHSA-gqh9-2c72-wpjc.