# CVE-2026-71979: INDI indiserver 2.2.4.2 Stack Buffer Overflow via XML Tag Parsing

> Remote attackers can crash the INDI server daemon by sending malformed XML packets, disrupting all active sessions.

- **Severity:** High 8.7 (`CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 17 Aug 2026
- **Updated:** 17 Aug 2026
- **Also known as:** GHSA-rpc6-j92g-4x56

## What is CVE-2026-71979?

CVE-2026-71979 is a high-severity memory corruption vulnerability in indilib indi, published on 17 Aug 2026. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

INDI (Instrument Neutral Distributed Interface) indiserver through 2.2.4.2, fixed in commit 96bbd7f, contains a stack buffer overflow vulnerability that allows unauthenticated remote attackers to crash the daemon by sending malformed XML with mismatched tags whose names exceed 1024 bytes. Attackers can send a single TCP packet on port 7624 with mismatched XML tags to trigger an unbounded sprintf() write into a fixed 1024-byte stack buffer in MsgQueue.cpp, terminating the daemon and disrupting all active client and driver sessions.

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

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-71979?


## How do I fix CVE-2026-71979?

No fix has been published for CVE-2026-71979 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2026-71979 being exploited?

It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2026-71979 exists.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-71979 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-71979 is a high-severity memory corruption vulnerability in indilib indi, published on 17 Aug 2026. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2026-71979 exists.

Affected product: indilib indi. 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-2026-71979/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-71979/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-71979
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-71979
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-71979

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-71979/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.