Cyber Resilience

CVE-2026-2705

Memory Safety in Openbabel Open Babel ≤ 3.1.1

Public PoCMemory Safety
Published
19 February 2026
Modified
01 March 2026
CVSS Score v4 5.3
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:P/VC:N/VI:N/VA:L/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:P/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X
EPSS Score 0.0072 51th percentile
Risk Priority 35 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2026-2705 is a medium-severity Improper Restriction of Operations within the Bounds of a Memory Buffer (CWE-119) vulnerability in Openbabel Open Babel. Its CVSS base score is 5.3 (Medium).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Process Injection (T1055); ranked in the top 49% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog; a public proof-of-concept is referenced.

The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to SA-11 (Developer Testing and Evaluation) and SA-8 (Security and Privacy Engineering Principles) — see the control section below for these in your framework.

Deeper analysis AI-assisted summary

Synthesised by an AI model from the NVD description and linked references — a reading aid, not an authoritative source.

CVE-2026-2705 is an out-of-bounds read vulnerability in Open Babel versions up to 3.1.1. The flaw affects the OBAtom::SetFormalCharge function in the include/openbabel/atom.h library file, part of the MOL2 File Handler component. It is classified under CWE-119 (Improper Restriction of Operations within the Bounds of a Memory Buffer) and CWE-125 (Out-of-bounds Read), with a CVSS v3.1 base score of 4.3 (AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L).

The vulnerability enables remote exploitation by unauthenticated attackers requiring no privileges, though it demands user interaction and features low attack complexity. Attackers can trigger the out-of-bounds read by supplying a malicious MOL2 file, potentially leading to a denial-of-service condition due to the low availability impact.

Advisories recommend applying the patch at commit e23a224b8fd9d7c2a7cde9ef4ec6afb4c05aa08a to remediate the issue. The Open Babel project was informed early via GitHub issue #2848, with a related pull request #2862, though it has not yet responded. A proof-of-concept exploit is publicly available, and exploitation may occur as it is now public.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

A vulnerability was detected in Open Babel up to 3.1.1. The impacted element is the function OBAtom::SetFormalCharge in the library include/openbabel/atom.h of the component MOL2 File Handler. The manipulation results in out-of-bounds read. It is possible to launch the attack…

more

remotely. The exploit is now public and may be used. The patch is identified as e23a224b8fd9d7c2a7cde9ef4ec6afb4c05aa08a. A patch should be applied to remediate this issue. The project was informed of the problem early through an issue report but has not responded yet.

CWE(s)
CWE-119CWE-125

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1055 Process Injection Stealth
Adversaries may inject code into processes in order to evade process-based defenses as well as possibly elevate privileges.
attack.mitre.org →
T1068 Exploitation for Privilege Escalation Privilege Escalation
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in an attempt to elevate privileges.
attack.mitre.org →
T1190 Exploit Public-Facing Application Initial Access
Adversaries may attempt to exploit a weakness in an Internet-facing host or system to initially access a network.
attack.mitre.org →
T1203 Exploitation for Client Execution Execution
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in client applications to execute code.
attack.mitre.org →
T1210 Exploitation of Remote Services Lateral Movement
Adversaries may exploit remote services to gain unauthorized access to internal systems once inside of a network.
attack.mitre.org →
T1211 Exploitation for Stealth Stealth
Adversaries may exploit vulnerabilities to evade detection by hiding activity, suppressing logging, or operating within trusted or unmonitored components.
attack.mitre.org →
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2026-2704Same product: Openbabel Open Babel
CVE-2025-10995Same product: Openbabel Open Babel
CVE-2025-10997Same product: Openbabel Open Babel
CVE-2025-10996Same product: Openbabel Open Babel
CVE-2025-10994Same product: Openbabel Open Babel
CVE-2025-6271Shared CWE-119, CWE-125
CVE-2025-5203Shared CWE-119, CWE-125
CVE-2026-8088Shared CWE-119, CWE-125
CVE-2025-5167Shared CWE-119, CWE-125
CVE-2026-2242Shared CWE-119, CWE-125

Affected Assets

openbabel
open babel
≤ 3.1.1

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)

—

Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

—

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)

—

Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)
  • V17.3.2

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

SA-11 Developer Testing and Evaluation good match

Developer testing and evaluation directly finds out-of-bounds read flaws through static analysis, fuzzing, and dynamic bounds checks.

SA-8 Security and Privacy Engineering Principles partial match

Secure engineering principles require memory-safe design and coding that structurally avoids buffer-boundary violations.

SC-39 Process Isolation partial match

Process isolation confines the effects of an out-of-bounds read to the compromised process.

SI-10 Information Input Validation partial match

Input validation directly enforces bounds checking that stops out-of-bounds reads/writes from being introduced or reached.

SI-16 Memory Protection partial match

Memory protection restricts exploitation impact of buffer overflows without eliminating the underlying coding flaw.

Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

PR.PS-06 mostly match
prevents

Secure SDLC practices (bounds checking, safe APIs, reviews) directly prevent this class of flaw.

ID.RA-01 partial match
prevents

Vulnerability scanning and code analysis directly surface buffer-boundary flaws.

ID.RA-08 partial match
prevents

Receiving and triaging vulnerability disclosures commonly includes buffer-related reports.

PR.AT-02 partial match
prevents

Developer training on secure coding reduces introduction of memory-buffer errors.

PR.PS-02 partial match
prevents

Patching replaces vulnerable code containing buffer-boundary defects.

Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

A.8.29 Security testing in development and acceptance mostly match
finds

Security testing in development catches out-of-bounds accesses before release, covering most instances of the weakness.

A.8.15 Logging partial match
finds

Logging can record evidence of an out-of-bounds read but does not prevent the weakness itself.

A.8.25 Secure development life cycle partial match
prevents

Secure development lifecycle mandates memory-safety practices that directly prevent buffer-boundary violations.

A.8.26 Application security requirements partial match
prevents

Application security requirements can specify memory-safety rules, but do not prescribe implementation details.

A.8.27 Secure system architecture and engineering principles partial match
prevents

Secure architecture and engineering principles include memory-safe design patterns that mitigate buffer overflows.

A.8.28 Secure coding partial match
prevents

Secure coding standards explicitly forbid unsafe buffer operations, directly eliminating CWE-119.

References