CVE-2026-7838: UltraVNC viewer heap buffer overflow via integer overflow in RFB connection-failure reason length
UltraVNC viewer through 1.8.2.2 contains an integer overflow leading to a heap buffer overflow in the RFB protocol failure-response parsing path. In vncviewer/ClientConnection.cpp, the 4-byte network-supplied reasonLen field (type CARD32) is passed as reasonLen+1 to CheckBufferSize(). Because both operands are unsigned 32-bit, a reasonLen of 0xFFFFFFFF overflows to 0, causing CheckBufferSize to allocate only 256 bytes. The subsequent ReadString(mnetbuf, reasonLen) call then performs ReadExact for the original 4 GiB length into that 256-byte heap buffer. This overflow is reachable via rfbConnFailed (auth-scheme negotiation) and rfbVncAuthFailed (post-handshake) message types without successful authentication. A malicious VNC server, or any man-in-the-middle on the RFB stream, can trigger this condition when the victim viewer connects, potentially resulting in remote code execution as the user running the viewer. The crash was confirmed with AddressSanitizer on a portable reproduction harness (heap-buffer-overflow WRITE at offset 256).
Affected Software
Event History
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the severity of CVE-2026-7838?
The severity of CVE-2026-7838 is high with a score of 8.8.
How do I fix CVE-2026-7838?
To fix CVE-2026-7838, update UltraVNC Viewer to version 1.8.2.3 or later.
What type of vulnerability is CVE-2026-7838?
CVE-2026-7838 is a heap buffer overflow vulnerability caused by an integer overflow.
What software is affected by CVE-2026-7838?
CVE-2026-7838 affects UltraVNC Viewer version 1.8.2.2.
What are the potential impacts of CVE-2026-7838?
The potential impacts of CVE-2026-7838 include unauthorized access and execution of malicious code due to the buffer overflow.