CVE-2026-34941: Wasmtime Heap OOB Read Vulnerability

MODERATE
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-hx6p-xpx3-jvvv
CVSS 8.1
CWE-125
Published
Advisory Summary

CVE-2026-34941 is a MODERATE (CVSS 8.1) heap oob read vulnerability (CWE-125: Out-of-bounds Read) affecting Wasmtime libraries in the crates.io ecosystem. The issue involves heap oob read in component model utf-16 to latin1+utf16 string transcoding. Remediation is available by upgrading affected packages to version 24.0.7, 36.0.7, 42.0.2, 43.0.1.

CVE-2026-34941 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2026-34941
GHSA Identifier GHSA-hx6p-xpx3-jvvv
Severity MODERATE
CVSS v3.1 Base Score 8.1
CWE Classification CWE-125: Out-of-bounds Read
Affected Product Wasmtime
Package Ecosystem crates.io
Published Date
Last Updated

Security Impact

CVSS: 8.1

The security impact metrics below are parsed directly from the CVSS v3.1 vector string (CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:H).

Attack Vector Network (AV:N)
Attack Complexity Low (AC:L)
Privileges Required Low (PR:L)
User Interaction None (UI:N)
Scope Unchanged (S:U)
Confidentiality High (C:H)
Integrity None (I:N)
Availability High (A:H)

How to Fix CVE-2026-34941

To remediate this vulnerability, upgrade all affected Wasmtime dependencies to a patched release. Both direct and transitive dependencies should be checked, as frameworks or security libraries may pull in vulnerable versions transitively.

wasmtime fixed: 24.0.7
Upgrade wasmtime to 24.0.7
wasmtime fixed: 36.0.7
Upgrade wasmtime to 36.0.7
wasmtime fixed: 42.0.2
Upgrade wasmtime to 42.0.2
wasmtime fixed: 43.0.1
Upgrade wasmtime to 43.0.1
Verify Direct and Transitive Dependencies

Run the following command in your project directory to verify that all resolved dependencies use the patched release:

inspect dependencies for wasmtime

How to Check if You Are Affected

To determine whether your application is affected by CVE-2026-34941, inspect your project dependencies for Wasmtime:

inspect dependencies for wasmtime

Analyze the terminal output to locate any version of Wasmtime in your dependency tree. If any resolved version matches the vulnerable ranges listed in the table below (for example, versions earlier than 24.0.7), your application is affected.

Note: Verify declared build manifests and deployed runtime container environments.

Technical Details

Vulnerability Mechanism & Technical Analysis

This vulnerability is classified under CWE-125: Out-of-bounds Read, where the product reads data past the end, or before the beginning, of the intended buffer. In Wasmtime, software state validation or input boundaries are circumvented during processing. Review the official source advisory statement below for specific affected components, classes, and reproduction details.

Source Advisory Statement

### Summary Wasmtime contains a vulnerability where when transcoding a UTF-16 string to the latin1+utf16 component-model encoding it would incorrectly validate the byte length of the input string when performing a bounds check. Specifically the number of code units were checked instead of the byte length, which is twice the size of the code units. This vulnerability can cause the host to read beyond the end of a WebAssembly's linear memory in an attempt to transcode nonexistent bytes. In Wasmtime's default configuration this will read unmapped memory on a guard page, terminating the process with a segfault. Wasmtime can be configured, however, without guard pages which would mean that host memory beyond the end of linear memory may be read and interpreted as UTF-16. A host segfault is a denial-of-service vulnerability in Wasmtime, and possibly being able to read beyond the end of linear memory is additionally a vulnerability. Note that reading beyond the end of linear memory requires nonstandard configuration of Wasmtime, specifically with guard pages disabled. ### Impact This is an out-of-bounds memory access. Any user running untrusted wasm components that use cross-component string passing (with UTF-16 source and latin1+utf16 destination encodings) is affected. - With guard pages: Denial of service. The host process crashes with SIGBUS/SIGSEGV. - Without guard pages: Potential information disclosure. The guest can read host memory beyond its linear memory allocation. Patches Wasmtime 24.0.7, 36.0.7, 42.0.2, and 43.0.1 have been issued to fix this bug. Users are recommended to update to these patched versions of Wasmtime. Workarounds There is no workaround for this bug. Hosts are recommended to updated to a patched version of Wasmtime.

CVE-2026-34941 Affected Wasmtime Versions

4 component(s)
Fixed Versions:
24.0.736.0.742.0.243.0.1
Product / Package Ecosystem Affected Versions Fixed Version
wasmtime
crates.io
< 24.0.7
24.0.7
wasmtime
crates.io
≥ 25.0.0
< 36.0.7
36.0.7
wasmtime
crates.io
≥ 37.0.0
< 42.0.2
42.0.2
wasmtime
crates.io
≥ 43.0.0
< 43.0.1
All 1 versions
43.0.0
43.0.1

References

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2026-34941?
CVE-2026-34941 is a security vulnerability in Wasmtime involving Heap OOB read in component model UTF-16 to latin1+utf16 string transcoding under CWE-125: Out-of-bounds Read.
Which Wasmtime versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to 24.0.7, 36.0.7, 42.0.2, 43.0.1 across affected packages: wasmtime.
What version fixes CVE-2026-34941?
Upgrading to 24.0.7, 36.0.7, 42.0.2, 43.0.1 (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
Is wasmtime affected?
Yes, wasmtime is affected in releases prior to 24.0.7, 36.0.7, 42.0.2, 43.0.1. Upgrade your dependency to 24.0.7, 36.0.7, 42.0.2, 43.0.1 or later.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2026-34941?
CVE-2026-34941 has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 8.1 (MODERATE) with vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:H.
What CWE is associated with CVE-2026-34941?
CVE-2026-34941 is classified under CWE-125: Out-of-bounds Read (The product reads data past the end, or before the beginning, of the intended buffer.).
How can I check crates.io dependencies for CVE-2026-34941?
Run the dependency tree command: 'inspect dependencies for wasmtime'. This command lists direct and transitive dependencies in your build configuration so you can verify if a vulnerable version is resolved.
Machine-readable OSV JSON OSV v1.5 Schema
Normalized schema output
{
  "schema_version" : "1.4.0",
  "id" : "GHSA-hx6p-xpx3-jvvv",
  "modified" : "2026-04-24T21:03:53Z",
  "published" : "2026-04-09T20:22:08Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2026-34941" ],
  "summary" : "Wasmtime: Heap OOB read in component model UTF-16 to latin1+utf16 string transcoding",
  "details" : "### Summary\n\nWasmtime contains a vulnerability where when transcoding a UTF-16 string to the latin1+utf16 component-model encoding it would incorrectly validate the byte length of the input string when performing a bounds check. Specifically the number of code units were checked instead of the byte length, which is twice the size of the code units.\n\nThis vulnerability can cause the host to read beyond the end of a WebAssembly's linear memory in an attempt to transcode nonexistent bytes. In Wasmtime's default configuration this will read unmapped memory on a guard page, terminating the process with a segfault. Wasmtime can be configured, however, without guard pages which would mean that host memory beyond the end of linear memory may be read and interpreted as UTF-16.\n\nA host segfault is a denial-of-service vulnerability in Wasmtime, and possibly being able to read beyond the end of linear memory is additionally a vulnerability. Note that reading beyond the end of linear memory requires nonstandard configuration of Wasmtime, specifically with guard pages disabled.\n\n### Impact\n\nThis is an out-of-bounds memory access. Any user running untrusted wasm components that use cross-component string passing (with UTF-16 source and latin1+utf16 destination encodings) is affected.\n\n- With guard pages: Denial of service. The host process crashes with SIGBUS/SIGSEGV.\n- Without guard pages: Potential information disclosure. The guest can read host memory beyond its linear memory allocation.\n\nPatches\n\nWasmtime 24.0.7, 36.0.7, 42.0.2, and 43.0.1 have been issued to fix this bug. Users are recommended to update to these patched versions of Wasmtime.\nWorkarounds\n\nThere is no workaround for this bug. Hosts are recommended to updated to a patched version of Wasmtime.",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V3",
    "score" : "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:H"
  }, {
    "type" : "CVSS_V4",
    "score" : "CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:P/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N"
  } ],
  "affected" : [ {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "crates.io",
      "name" : "wasmtime"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "24.0.7"
      } ]
    } ]
  }, {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "crates.io",
      "name" : "wasmtime"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "25.0.0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "36.0.7"
      } ]
    } ]
  }, {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "crates.io",
      "name" : "wasmtime"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "37.0.0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "42.0.2"
      } ]
    } ]
  }, {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "crates.io",
      "name" : "wasmtime"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "43.0.0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "43.0.1"
      } ]
    } ],
    "versions" : [ "43.0.0" ]
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/bytecodealliance/wasmtime/security/advisories/GHSA-hx6p-xpx3-jvvv"
  }, {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-34941"
  }, {
    "type" : "PACKAGE",
    "url" : "https://github.com/bytecodealliance/wasmtime"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://rustsec.org/advisories/RUSTSEC-2026-0093.html"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-125" ],
    "severity" : "MODERATE",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2026-04-09T20:22:08Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : "2026-04-09T19:16:23Z"
  }
}