Local process crash via unbounded expression recursion
Published Feb 18, 2026 · Updated Feb 18, 2026
Uncontrolled recursion in Universal Ctags 6.2.0 and 6.2.1 allows local users to crash ctags by processing a crafted V source file. The V parser's parseExpression and parseExprList functions call each other without a nesting-depth limit when handling deeply nested parentheses or arrays, exhausting the process stack. Exploitation requires a local user to make ctags parse the malicious file and interrupts only that ctags process; no data disclosure or modification is reported.
Summary
What happened
Uncontrolled recursion in Universal Ctags 6.2.0 and 6.2.1 allows local users to crash ctags by processing a crafted V source file. The V parser's parseExpression and parseExprList functions call each other without a nesting-depth limit when handling deeply nested parentheses or arrays, exhausting the process stack. Exploitation requires a local user to make ctags parse the malicious file and interrupts only that ctags process; no data disclosure or modification is reported.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2026-2641
- Published
- Feb 18, 2026
- Updated
- Feb 18, 2026
- Vendor
- Universal Ctags
- Product
- Universal Ctags
- Classifications
- CWE-674, CWE-404
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Feb 18, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Feb 18, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
Present is not the same as exploitable
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Is a vulnerable build present?
Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.
- Affected versionversion=6.2.0
- Affected versionversion=6.2.1
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Attacks
What attackers are doing with it
Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.
Weakness, pattern, technique
Public exploit references
- poc.v V-parser stack-overflow reproducerproof of concept · demonstrated
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Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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