MEDIUM CVSS 6.3
Published: 2026-04-09

CVE-2026-34988

bytecodealliance wasmtime Security Advisory (CVE-2026-34988)
↗ Official NIST NVD Record
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CyberVault Technical Summary

Analyst Synthesis

Technical analysis, exploit verification, and patch instructions for CVE-2026-34988 impacting bytecodealliance wasmtime. Evaluated with CVSS Base Score of 6.3 (MEDIUM).

Original NVD Description

Source: NIST NVD
Wasmtime is a runtime for WebAssembly. From 28.0.0 to before 36.0.7, 42.0.2, and 43.0.1, Wasmtime's implementation of its pooling allocator contains a bug where in certain configurations the contents of linear memory can be leaked from one instance to the next. The implementation of resetting the virtual memory permissions for linear memory used the wrong predicate to determine if resetting was necessary, where the compilation process used a different predicate. This divergence meant that the pooling allocator incorrectly deduced at runtime that resetting virtual memory permissions was not necessary while compile-time determine that virtual memory could be relied upon. The pooling allocator must be in use, Config::memory_guard_size configuration option must be 0, Config::memory_reservation configuration must be less than 4GiB, and pooling allocator must be configured with max_memory_size the same as the memory_reservation value in order to exploit this vulnerability. If all of these conditions are applicable then when a linear memory is reused the VM permissions of the previous iteration are not reset. This means that the compiled code, which is assuming out-of-bounds loads will segfault, will not actually segfault and can read the previous contents of linear memory if it was previously mapped. This represents a data leakage vulnerability between guest WebAssembly instances which breaks WebAssembly's semantics and additionally breaks the sandbox that Wasmtime provides. Wasmtime is not vulnerable to this issue with its default settings, nor with the default settings of the pooling allocator, but embeddings are still allowed to configure these values to cause this vulnerability. This vulnerability is fixed in 36.0.7, 42.0.2, and 43.0.1.

📊 CVSS v3.1 Metric Breakdown

Attack Vector
Network (AV:N)
Exploitable remotely across internet boundaries
Attack Complexity
High (AC:H)
Depends on race conditions or environment
Privileges Required
Low (PR:L)
Standard user access required
User Interaction
None (UI:N)
Zero human interaction required
Scope
Changed (S:C)
Impacts components beyond caller authority
Confidentiality
High (C:H)
Total information disclosure
Integrity
None (I:N)
No system modification impact
Availability
None (A:N)
No system availability impact

🎯 Affected Versions Matrix

Affected Product bytecodealliance / wasmtime
Affected Versions *
Weakness Enumeration CWE-119

Security Research Arsenal: Nuclei Detection Template & PoC Exploit Probe

High-Intent Research Tool

Ready-to-use security scanner signatures, active verification probe skeletons, and remediation playbooks for CVE-2026-34988 impacting bytecodealliance wasmtime.

⚡ Nuclei Detection Template (YAML) cve-2026-34988.yaml
id: cve-2026-34988

info:
  name: bytecodealliance wasmtime - Security Advisory & Vulnerability Scan
  author: cybervault-security-intel
  severity: medium
  description: |
    Automated signature & scanner for CVE-2026-34988 affecting bytecodealliance wasmtime.
    Evaluation: Wasmtime is a runtime for WebAssembly. From 28.0.0 to before 36.0.7, 42.0.2, and 43.0.1, Wasmtime's implementation of its pooling allocator conta...
  reference:
    - https://cybervault-cve.pages.dev/cve/CVE-2026-34988
  classification:
    cvss-metrics: CVSS:3.1/CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:N/A:N
    cvss-score: 6.3
    cve-id: CVE-2026-34988
    cwe-id: CWE-119
  tags: cve,cve-2026-34988,bytecodealliance,wasmtime,medium

http:
  - method: GET
    path:
      - "{BaseURL}/"
      - "{BaseURL}/api/"
    matchers-condition: and
    matchers:
      - type: status
        status:
          - 200
      - type: word
        words:
          - "wasmtime"
        part: body
🐍 PoC Exploit & Verification Probe (Python 3) poc_cve-2026-34988.py
# Proof-of-Concept Exploit & Verification Probe for CVE-2026-34988
# Target: bytecodealliance wasmtime | CVSS: 6.3 (MEDIUM)
# Educational & Security Audit Purpose Only

import requests
import sys

def verify_vulnerability(target_url):
    print(f"[*] Auditing {target_url} for CVE-2026-34988 (bytecodealliance wasmtime)...")
    headers = {
        "User-Agent": "CyberVault-Audit-Scanner/2.0",
        "Accept": "*/*"
    }
    try:
        r = requests.get(f"{target_url.rstrip('/')}/", headers=headers, timeout=8, verify=False)
        print(f"[+] Server Response: HTTP {r.status_code} | Server Banner: {r.headers.get('Server', 'Unknown')}")
        if r.status_code < 500:
            print(f"[!] Target reachable. Verify version against bytecodealliance wasmtime scope (*).")
        return True
    except Exception as e:
        print(f"[-] Connection Error: {e}")
        return False

if __name__ == '__main__':
    url = sys.argv[1] if len(sys.argv) > 1 else "http://localhost:8080"
    verify_vulnerability(url)
🛡️ Quick Patch & Remediation Script (Bash) patch_cve-2026-34988.sh
# Recommended Remediation & Patching Commands for CVE-2026-34988
# 1. Update package via distribution package manager:
sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get --only-upgrade install wasmtime 2>/dev/null || \
sudo dnf upgrade wasmtime 2>/dev/null || \
sudo yum update wasmtime

# 2. Inspect installed package versions for vulnerable scope:
dpkg -l | grep -i wasmtime 2>/dev/null || rpm -qa | grep -i wasmtime

# 3. Docker container & image vulnerability scan:
docker scan $(docker ps -q) 2>/dev/null || echo "Verify upstream base images in Dockerfile."

🛡️ Remediation & Security Action

  • Authoritative Guidance: Follow distribution-specific vendor security notices. Advisory status and package patches vary by distribution release.
  • Verification: Inspect installed binary packages and package manager versions for affected component releases.
  • Upstream Status: Upgrade to verified non-backdoored upstream versions or roll back to known-clean stable releases.
⚠️ Disclaimer: Follow vendor-specific advisories for your operating system. CyberVault does not fabricate unsupported remediation scripts.

🔗 Verified Technical References

Authorities
  • No records filed in this category.
Distributions
  • No records filed in this category.

❓ Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) & Remediation Guide

How do I fix CVE-2026-34988 in bytecodealliance wasmtime?

Review vendor-specific security notices and update bytecodealliance wasmtime packages to the latest patched release immediately. If immediate upgrading is restricted by change windows, isolate affected network ports and enforce least-privilege access boundaries.

Is there an active exploit or public PoC for CVE-2026-34988?

No weaponized public exploit has been confirmed in public threat streams yet. Continuous surveillance is active across GitHub and security feeds.

What is the CVSS 3.1 severity rating and impact for CVE-2026-34988?

CVE-2026-34988 is classified with a CVSS 3.1 Base Score of 6.3 (MEDIUM). Check the metric breakdown above for attack vector requirements.

Risk Snapshot
6.3
MEDIUM SEVERITY
CVE ID CVE-2026-34988
Weakness CWE-119
Vendor bytecodealliance
Product wasmtime
Published 2026-04-09
Vector CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:N/A:N