Category

Secure Coding

Security vulnerabilities and automated fixes for secure coding issues

89 posts found

critical8 min

Heap Buffer Overflow in Audio Ring Buffer: How a Missing Bounds Check Could Crash Your App

A critical heap buffer overflow vulnerability was discovered in `audio_backend.c`, where the audio ring buffer's `memcpy` operations lacked bounds validation before writing PCM data. Without checking that incoming data sizes fell within the allocated buffer's capacity, a maliciously crafted audio file could corrupt adjacent heap memory, potentially enabling arbitrary code execution. The fix adds a concise pre-flight validation guard that rejects out-of-range write requests before any memory oper

#c#buffer-overflow#heap-corruption+4 more
O
orbisai0security
May 28, 2026
high7 min

Thread-Safe Tokenization: Fixing strtok() Reentrancy in Game Script Parsing

A high-severity vulnerability was discovered in `lvl_script_commands.c` where the use of the non-reentrant `strtok()` function during level script parsing created conditions for memory corruption and potential arbitrary code execution. The fix replaces all `strtok()` calls with the thread-safe `strtok_r()` variant, eliminating shared global state that could be exploited through maliciously crafted level files. This change is part of a broader effort to harden the game's script parsing pipeline a

#c-programming#memory-safety#thread-safety+4 more
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orbisai0security
May 28, 2026
critical8 min

Heap Buffer Overflow in darktable's Color Chart: How Unchecked memcpy Calls Put Image Processing at Risk

A critical heap buffer overflow vulnerability was discovered in `src/chart/main.c`, where `memcpy` and `memmove` calls failed to validate buffer sizes before copying color calibration data — allowing a crafted input file to overwrite heap metadata and adjacent memory. The fix adds allocation failure checks after `realloc` calls and replaces `malloc` with `calloc` to zero-initialize buffers, eliminating the risk of uninitialized memory being exploited. This type of vulnerability is a reminder tha

#buffer-overflow#c-security#memory-safety+4 more
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orbisai0security
May 28, 2026
medium8 min

Buffer Overflow in Freestanding Runtime: How Unsafe strcpy() Puts Bare-Metal Systems at Risk

A critical buffer overflow vulnerability was discovered in the freestanding runtime's custom string library, where `strcpy()` and `memcpy()` implementations lacked any bounds checking whatsoever. In a bare-metal or kernel-like environment with no OS-level memory protection, this flaw could allow an attacker to overwrite adjacent memory regions — including function pointers and security-critical state — with arbitrary data. The fix introduces a safe `strlcpy()` implementation that enforces destin

#buffer-overflow#c-security#freestanding-runtime+4 more
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orbisai0security
May 28, 2026
critical8 min

Use-After-Free in zmap.h: How a Missing NULL Assignment Nearly Opened the Door to Arbitrary Code Execution

A critical use-after-free vulnerability was discovered and patched in `zmap.h`, where freed memory pointers were not reset to a safe state after deallocation in the `map` destructor and move-assignment operator. This oversight allowed subsequent code paths — including destructors, iterators, and concurrent threads — to access memory that had already been returned to the allocator, creating a condition exploitable for arbitrary code execution. The fix, a two-line change adding `inner = {};` after

#c++#memory-safety#use-after-free+4 more
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orbisai0security
May 28, 2026
critical6 min

Critical Integer Sign Bug in runtime_malloc(): How a Missing Check Enables Heap Corruption

A critical vulnerability in `runtime/zenith_runtime.c` allowed the `runtime_malloc()` function to accept negative size values, which when cast to an unsigned type could either trigger a massive failed allocation or produce a dangerously undersized buffer ripe for overflow. The fix adds a simple but essential guard clause that rejects non-positive sizes before they ever reach `malloc()`. Left unpatched, this class of bug can lead to heap metadata corruption, process crashes, or even arbitrary cod

#c#memory-safety#heap-corruption+4 more
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orbisai0security
May 28, 2026
critical7 min

Shell Injection via os.system(): How a Single Line of Code Can Compromise Your System

A critical OS command injection vulnerability (CWE-78) was discovered and patched in `voice.py`, where user-controlled input was interpolated directly into a shell command string passed to `os.system()`. An attacker who could influence the `device` variable — through a config file, environment variable, or any external input — could execute arbitrary system commands with the full privileges of the running process. The fix replaces the dangerous `os.system()` calls with Python's `subprocess.run()

#security#python#command-injection+4 more
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orbisai0security
May 28, 2026
critical9 min

Critical Buffer Overflow in VMS Mail: How strcpy() Became a Security Nightmare

A critical buffer overflow vulnerability was discovered and patched in `sys/vms/vmsmail.c`, where eight unchecked calls to `strcpy()` and `strcat()` allowed externally-sourced mail message content to overflow fixed-size buffers. An attacker capable of sending a crafted VMS mail message could overwrite stack return addresses, potentially achieving arbitrary code execution. The fix replaces all dangerous string operations with bounds-checked `snprintf()` calls, eliminating the overflow risk entire

#buffer-overflow#c-security#strcpy+4 more
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orbisai0security
May 28, 2026
critical7 min

Critical Buffer Overflow Fix: How Unbounded strcpy() Puts Your System at Risk

A critical buffer overflow vulnerability was discovered in a custom `strcpy()` implementation that performed unbounded memory copies without any destination buffer size validation. In kernel and OS contexts, this flaw could allow attackers to overwrite return addresses, corrupt heap metadata, or destabilize critical system data structures. The fix replaces the unsafe `strcpy()` with a bounds-checked `strlcpy()` that enforces a maximum copy length, eliminating the overflow risk entirely.

#buffer-overflow#c-security#memory-safety+4 more
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orbisai0security
May 28, 2026
critical7 min

Critical Buffer Overflow Fixed: memcpy Without Bounds Checking in C++ Integer Wrapper

A critical buffer overflow vulnerability was discovered and patched in `libs/intx/wrapper.cpp`, where `memcpy` operations wrote into fixed-size buffers without first validating that the copy length fit within the destination. Because these functions process externally-supplied data arriving over RPC, an attacker could potentially trigger heap or stack corruption remotely. The fix adds strict bounds and null-pointer checks before any memory operation takes place.

#buffer-overflow#cpp#memory-safety+4 more
O
orbisai0security
May 28, 2026
critical7 min

Stack Buffer Overflow in FTM File Parser: How strcpy() Almost Enabled Arbitrary Code Execution on ESP32

A critical stack buffer overflow vulnerability was discovered in `ftm_file.cpp`, where unchecked `strcpy()` calls allowed attacker-controlled filenames from crafted FTM files to overwrite stack memory, including the saved return address, enabling arbitrary code execution on ESP32 devices. The fix replaces both dangerous `strcpy()` calls with bounds-checked `strncpy()` plus explicit null-termination, eliminating the overflow vector entirely. This is a textbook reminder that unsafe C string functi

#buffer-overflow#c-cpp#embedded-security+4 more
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orbisai0security
May 28, 2026
critical8 min

Critical Buffer Overflow in OpenCC C Library: How a sprintf() Call Became a Security Vulnerability

A critical buffer overflow vulnerability was discovered in the OpenCC C library's configuration reader, where an unbounded `sprintf()` call could allow attackers to overflow a fixed-size buffer by supplying malformed configuration files with excessively long path components. The fix replaces `sprintf()` with `snprintf()` and adds proper line-length validation to prevent memory corruption attacks. Left unpatched, this vulnerability could have allowed attackers to overwrite return addresses and fu

#buffer-overflow#c-security#sprintf+4 more
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orbisai0security
May 28, 2026