GHSA-pp85-5j63-xpq3
Open Babel has Use-after-free in GAMESS GAMESSOutputFormat::ReadMolecule
Details
### Summary
A memory-safety vulnerability in Open Babel's GAMESS output parser caused a use-after-free when reading a crafted input file.
### Details
The flaw was in `GAMESSOutputFormat::ReadMolecule`. A malformed input caused the parser to dereference a stale pointer after the underlying object had been freed.
### Impact
Open Babel is a C++ library and CLI used to read and write chemistry file formats; it is shipped by Linux distributions and embedded in services that may parse untrusted input. Triggering this vulnerability requires the victim to open a malicious GAMESS output file with the `obabel` tool, the `OBConversion` API, or any of the language bindings (Python, Ruby, Java, R, Perl, C#, PHP).
### Affected versions
All releases up to and including 3.1.1.
### Patched version
3.2.0 (released 2026-05-26).
### Patch
Fix commit: https://github.com/openbabel/openbabel/commit/95033d27 Originally reported as #2834; fixes consolidated in #2913.
A minimized reproducer for this CVE is checked in under `test/files/fuzz_regress/` and is exercised on every CI build under ASAN+UBSAN by the `fuzzregresstest` harness.
### Credit
Reported via OSS-Fuzz.
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Affected packages
References
- https://github.com/openbabel/openbabel/security/advisories/GHSA-pp85-5j63-xpq3 [WEB]
- https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-10994 [ADVISORY]
- https://github.com/openbabel/openbabel/issues/2834 [WEB]
- https://github.com/openbabel/openbabel/commit/95033d27d23c07f98daa92d3cd3ae5ea07594a91 [WEB]
- https://github.com/openbabel/openbabel [PACKAGE]
- https://github.com/user-attachments/files/22318611/poc.zip [WEB]
- https://vuldb.com/?ctiid.325922 [WEB]
- https://vuldb.com/?id.325922 [WEB]
- https://vuldb.com/?submit.654057 [WEB]