CVE-2026-34942 | Wasmtime panics when transcoding misaligned utf-16 strings

Wasmtime is a runtime for WebAssembly. Prior to 24.0.7, 36.0.7, 42.0.2, and 43.0.1, Wasmtime's implementation of transcoding strings into the Component Model's utf16 or latin1+utf16 encodings improperly verified the alignment of reallocated strings. This meant that unaligned pointers could be passed to the host for transcoding which would trigger a host panic. This panic is possible to trigger from malicious guests which transfer very specific strings across components with specific addresses. Host panics are considered a DoS vector in Wasmtime as the panic conditions are controlled by the guest in this situation. This vulnerability is fixed in 24.0.7, 36.0.7, 42.0.2, and 43.0.1.

Published: 2026-04-09 Last update: 2026-06-17 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Analyzed，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2026-34942 is rated Low Risk (33.4/100): CVSS Medium severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.35%). Monitor for updates and reassess as exploit intelligence or EPSS changes.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2026-34942

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2026-06-15 0.01% 0.35% +0.34%
2 2026-04-10 — 0.01% —

Full EPSS history (2 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2026-34942

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
5.9 4.0 MEDIUM
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:L/UI:P/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:L/E:X/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 Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Exploitation conditions are straightforward and stable.
Attack requirements (AT:P)
Additional preconditions must be present for exploitation.
Privileges required (PR:L)
Low privileges are required.
User interaction (UI:P)
A user has to participate (for example click/open/approve).
Vulnerable system confidentiality impact (VC:N)
No confidentiality impact on the vulnerable system.
Vulnerable system integrity impact (VI:N)
No integrity impact on the vulnerable system.
Vulnerable system availability impact (VA:H)
High availability impact on the vulnerable system.
Subsequent system confidentiality impact (SC:N)
No confidentiality impact on subsequent systems.
Subsequent system integrity impact (SI:N)
No integrity impact on subsequent systems.
Subsequent system availability impact (SA:L)
Limited availability impact on subsequent systems.
Exploit maturity (threat) (E:X)
Not defined: no reliable threat intelligence; scoring assumes the worst case (equivalent to Attacked).
Confidentiality requirement (CR:X)
Not defined: insufficient information; scoring treats this like High (worst case).
Integrity requirement (IR:X)
Not defined: insufficient information; scoring treats this like High (worst case).
Availability requirement (AR:X)
Not defined: insufficient information; scoring treats this like High (worst case).
Modified attack vector (MAV:X)
Not defined: scoring uses the Base Attack Vector (AV).
Modified attack complexity (MAC:X)
Not defined: scoring uses the Base Attack Complexity (AC).
Modified attack requirements (MAT:X)
Not defined: scoring uses the Base Attack Requirements (AT).
Modified privileges required (MPR:X)
Not defined: scoring uses the Base Privileges Required (PR).
Modified user interaction (MUI:X)
Not defined: scoring uses the Base User Interaction (UI).
Modified vulnerable system confidentiality impact (MVC:X)
Not defined: scoring uses the Base VC metric.
Modified vulnerable system integrity impact (MVI:X)
Not defined: scoring uses the Base VI metric.
Modified vulnerable system availability impact (MVA:X)
Not defined: scoring uses the Base VA metric.
Modified subsequent system confidentiality impact (MSC:X)
Not defined: scoring uses the Base SC metric.
Modified subsequent system integrity impact (MSI:X)
Not defined: scoring uses the Base SI metric.
Modified subsequent system availability impact (MSA:X)
Not defined: scoring uses the Base SA metric.
Safety (supplemental) (S:X)
Not evaluated.
Automatable (supplemental) (AU:X)
Not evaluated.
Recovery (supplemental) (R:X)
Not evaluated.
Value density (supplemental) (V:X)
Not evaluated.
Vulnerability response effort (supplemental) (RE:X)
Not evaluated.
Provider urgency (supplemental) (U:X)
Not evaluated.
 — — [email protected]
6.5 3.1 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:L)
A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:N)
Doesn’t really leak secrets in a meaningful way.
Integrity (I:N)
Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
 2.8 3.6 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2026-34942

GitHub Security Advisory for CVE-2026-34942

GHSA-jxhv-7h78-9775 · Severity: medium · Ecosystem: rust — Wasmtime: Panic when transcoding misaligned utf-16 strings

OS Trackers for CVE-2026-34942

vendor priority summary link
debian not yet assigned CVE-2026-34942 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 1 source packages (rust-wasmtime), 3 status rows across 3 suites (forky, sid, trixie): resolved 2, open 1. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2026-34942
redhat medium — https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-34942
suse high — https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-34942/
ubuntu medium CVE-2026-34942 medium priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (rust-wasmtime), 4 status rows across 4 suites (jammy, noble, questing, upstream): needs-triage 3, DNE 1. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2026-34942

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2026-34942

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
bytecodealliance wasmtime < 24.0.7 cpe:2.3:a:bytecodealliance:wasmtime:*:*:*:*:*:rust:*:*
bytecodealliance wasmtime >= 25.0.0, < 36.0.7 cpe:2.3:a:bytecodealliance:wasmtime:*:*:*:*:*:rust:*:*
bytecodealliance wasmtime >= 37.0.0, < 42.0.2 cpe:2.3:a:bytecodealliance:wasmtime:*:*:*:*:*:rust:*:*
bytecodealliance wasmtime >= 43.0.0, < 43.0.1 cpe:2.3:a:bytecodealliance:wasmtime:*:*:*:*:*:rust:*:*

References for CVE-2026-34942

cvelogic Threat Intelligence