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HighVulnerabilityCVE-2026-115909updated 29 Oct 2026, 16:40 UTC

Rust zip library can be crashed by a tiny malicious archive

A specially crafted small ZIP file can make any program that extracts it crash immediately. Because the crash cannot be caught, the program stops and must be restarted, so repeated attacks can keep it down.

Fixed in 9.0.0Official, 2 sources
SeverityHighCVSS 7.5 of 10
Being exploited?UnclearNo reports either way yet
Fix available?Yes9.0.0 · since 29 Oct 2026
How sure is this?Official, 2 sourcesBacked by an official source

How the attack works simplified

  1. 1AttackerCrafts a tiny malicious ZIP file
  2. 2ZIP archiveSymlink entry declares huge size
  3. 3ExtractionApp allocates memory for the symlink target
  4. 4Process abortImpossible allocation aborts the process
  5. ResultApplication process crashes and cannot recover

What happened

In the zip Rust crate, the symbolic-link extraction path allocates memory sized by an attacker-declared uncompressed_size before reading entry data, and an impossible size causes an uncatchable abort (SIGABRT).

Why it is dangerous: A 112-byte archive can terminate any extracting process, enabling repeated denial of service in archive-processing applications.

Are you affected?

You are affected if your application uses the Rust zip crate from 1.3.0 up to (not including) 9.0.0 to extract untrusted ZIP archives.

Package / productAffected versionsFixed in
zip · rust>= 1.3.0, < 9.0.09.0.0

What to do

  1. Update the zip crate to version 9.0.0 or later
  2. Rebuild and redeploy applications that extract ZIP files
  3. Until updated, avoid extracting archives from untrusted sources

Timeline

  1. 26 Oct 2026, 17:17 UTC
    Publicly disclosed
  2. 26 Oct 2026, 17:17 UTC
    Reported by NVD · NVD
  3. 26 Oct 2026, 17:21 UTC
    Picked up by Zero Radar
  4. 29 Oct 2026, 16:40 UTC
    GitHub Advisory reported on it · GitHub Advisory
  5. 29 Oct 2026, 16:40 UTC
    Fixed version published: zip 9.0.0 · GitHub Advisory

Sources 2 reports, oldest first

Official vendor, government CERT or advisory database

Technical details

ID
CVE-2026-115909 · GHSA-q7v9-x93c-xqv3
CVSS
7.5 / 10
EPSS
0.5% chance of exploitation within 30 days
Disclosed
26 Oct 2026, 17:17 UTC
On Zero Radar
26 Oct 2026, 17:21 UTC (5 min after disclosure)
Last change
29 Oct 2026, 16:40 UTC

The plain-language parts and the attack diagram were written by an AI model (anthropic/claude-haiku-5.5) from the sources above. Facts like versions, exploitation and dates come from the sources themselves. How Zero Radar works

Rust zip library can be crashed by a tiny malicious archive · Zero Radar