Vulnerability · Published Jun 10, 2026 · Assigned by VulnCheck

CVE-2026-52757Ghidra < 12.1 - Heap-use-after-free in HighVariable::merge() during decompilation

Medium 4.4

In plain English

A medium-severity use-after-free in ghidra from nationalsecurityagency. Proof-of-concept exploit code is public. The chance it is exploited in the next 30 days is estimated at 0.1% (higher than 4% of all known vulnerabilities).

Severity (CVSS 3.1)4.4Medium

Exploit odds (30 days)0.1%top 96.2% of all CVEs

Exploited in the wildNo reportsCISA SSVC: poc

Attack toolingNoneno public tooling known

Official description

Ghidra before 12.1 contains a heap-use-after-free vulnerability in the decompiler's HighVariable::merge() function during the variable merging pass. Attackers can trigger this vulnerability by crafting a binary that causes stale pointers in the HighIntersectTest::highedgemap cache to be dereferenced, reading and writing the flags field of freed heap memory when a user opens the binary in Ghidra's decompiler view.

Affected products (as reported)

Vendor	Product	Versions
nationalsecurityagency	ghidra	0 – before 12.1

Weakness: CWE-416 · Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:L

References

GitHub Security Advisory (GHSA-8jqp-qv73-395r) vendor-advisory
https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/ghidra-heap-use-after-free-in-highvariable-merge-during-decompilation third-party-advisory