CVE-2026-88052 — Tesseract: Heap out-of-bounds write in UNICHARSET::load_via_fgets via count/insert desynchronization
Tesseract is an open source OCR engine. In version 5.5.3 and earlier, UNICHARSET::load_via_fgets in src/ccutil/unicharset.cpp trusts the declared unichar count as a loop bound and uses id as an unchecked index into the unichars vector. unichar_insert_backwards_compatible can leave the vector unchanged for an empty, duplicate, or already-encodable representation, causing id to become larger than unichars.size(). Subsequent set_* calls and the write to unichars[id].properties.enabled then write UNICHAR_PROPERTIES beyond the vector during initialization in both the default LSTM and legacy engines, causing heap corruption, a crash, or potentially controlled corruption. No fixed release is available as of this review.
Who exploits it and how urgent it is
A 0–100 score combining confirmed exploitation, ransomware and APT use, public exploits, EPSS and severity.
How the score was calculated
- EPSS 0.2% (30-day exploitation probability)+1
- Technical severity (high)+6
The score orders the patch queue; it does not replace your asset context (internet exposure, criticality, compensating controls).
Triage
Is it exploited, how likely is exploitation, what does it touch, and how severe do the sources call it.
CISA SSVC assessment CISA
Three decision points CISA publishes for the CVEs it assesses (SSVC 2.0.3). A stakeholder decision, not a severity score.
Remediation
Fixes and mitigations documented by the sources — linked to the original advisory.
- Documented patch — github.com (NIST National Vulnerability Database)
- Documented mitigation — github.com (NIST National Vulnerability Database)
First 24 hours
Ordered from the record’s own fields — exposure first, because you cannot patch what you have not found. A rule-generated starting point.
- Identify exposed assets running the affected vendor/product/version combinations (Tesseract-ocr Tesseract, Tesseract-ocr Tesseract Ocr).
- Apply the fixed version or the patch documented under Remediation.
- Exploitation requires user interaction: tighten email/web filtering and warn affected users.
- Search available logs for exploit probes, errors and authentication anomalies.
Affected scope
Vendor, product and versions as the sources word them.
| Vendor | Product | Versions | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tesseract-ocr | Tesseract | version <= 5.5.3 | Vulnerable | CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP |
| Tesseract-ocr | Tesseract Ocr | ≤ 5.5.3 | Vulnerable | NIST National Vulnerability Database |
Attack characteristics
The CVSS vector, decoded. It describes the attack, not your exposure to it.
Every base score collected
Sources score independently and may disagree; each row says who scored it and under which version.
| Score | Version | Severity | Expl. | Impact | Scored by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7.8 | CVSS 3.1 | High | 1.8 | 5.9 | security-advisories@github.com via NIST National Vulnerability Database |
| 7.8 | CVSS 3.1 | High | — | — | GitHub_M via CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP |
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H (score shown at the top: security-advisories@github.com) Weakness MITRE
Weakness class according to MITRE’s CWE catalog.
Detection
Read off the CVSS vector and the weakness class. Starting points, not tested rules.
- Local/physical vector: focus on endpoint telemetry (EDR) from affected hosts.
Timeline
What happened to this CVE, newest first.
- 2026
- Affected products added · tesseract-ocr/tesseract
- SSVC assessment updated
- Record published
- Fix documented
- CVSS changed · 7.8
- Source status changed · → Analyzed
- Record created in this database
- CVE published
Source activity
Repeated readings are counted rather than listed.
- 1× Official description updated · Oct 15, 2026 – Oct 15, 2026
References
2 on the record
Elsewhere on this site
Related CVEs (same products)
- High CVE-2026-88051 Tesseract: Heap out-of-bounds write in GenericVector<T>::read due to independent reserved/size_used_ fields Sep 10, 2026
- High CVE-2026-88053 Tesseract: Heap out-of-bounds write in Classify::ReadIntTemplates via unvalidated counts in crafted .traineddata Sep 10, 2026
- Medium CVE-2026-88054 Tesseract: Denial of service via empty-stack dereference in Plumbing/Series at model load Sep 10, 2026
- Medium CVE-2026-88049 Tesseract: Heap out-of-bounds write in LSTM::Forward via na_/gate-matrix dimension mismatch Sep 10, 2026
- Medium CVE-2026-88050 Tesseract: Out-of-bounds write in UnicharCompress via unvalidated recoder code values Sep 10, 2026
- High CVE-2026-88047 Tesseract: ReadNormProtos stack buffer overflow Sep 10, 2026
Not in any source we poll
Listed rather than left blank: an empty field and an unmeasured one look identical on screen, and only one is a reason to look elsewhere.
- No confirmed IOCs, IP addresses, domains, file hashes, or malware artifacts supplied.
- No organization-specific asset inventory, compensating-control status, or patch deployment evidence supplied.
- No exploit packet captures, log samples, or incident case IDs supplied.
Answered from this record
Text assembled only from the fields above — no additional claims.
What should defenders know first?
CVE-2026-88052 is "Tesseract: Heap out-of-bounds write in UNICHARSET::load_via_fgets via count/insert desynchronization", rated High. It affects Tesseract (Tesseract-ocr); versions are in the scope table. It is not in CISA KEV, which does not rule out exploitation. CVSS 7.8 describes technical severity. EPSS 0.18% estimates the probability of exploitation in 30 days; neither replaces your asset context. First verify whether exposed or business-critical assets run the affected versions, apply vendor fixes or mitigations, and preserve logs for review.
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