Qt 6.0+ QTextCodec::codecForName OOB read (CVE-2026-9499)
CVE-2026-9499 Published on July 21, 2026

Out-of-bounds read in QTextCodec::codecForName() in Qt
An out-of-bounds read (buffer over-read) vulnerability exists in QTextCodec::codecForName() in Qt. When the function is called with a QByteArray that is not NUL-terminated (for example, one created with QByteArray::fromRawData()), the codec-name matching routine reads past the end of the supplied buffer. In most cases this results in an incorrect text codec being selected; in the worst case, if the over-read reaches unmapped memory, the process crashes (denial of service). The over-read is bounded by the length of the longest codec-name candidate, and the out-of-bounds bytes are only compared internally against Qt's fixed list of codec names, so no data is disclosed to an attacker. Applications that do not pass non-NUL-terminated QByteArrays to QTextCodec::codecForName() are not exposed. The affected code resides in the Qt5Compat module from Qt 6.0.0 onward, and in Qt Core (qtbase) in Qt 4.x and Qt 5.x.

NVD

Weakness Type

Out-of-bounds Read

The software reads data past the end, or before the beginning, of the intended buffer. Typically, this can allow attackers to read sensitive information from other memory locations or cause a crash. A crash can occur when the code reads a variable amount of data and assumes that a sentinel exists to stop the read operation, such as a NUL in a string. The expected sentinel might not be located in the out-of-bounds memory, causing excessive data to be read, leading to a segmentation fault or a buffer overflow. The software may modify an index or perform pointer arithmetic that references a memory location that is outside of the boundaries of the buffer. A subsequent read operation then produces undefined or unexpected results.


Products Associated with CVE-2026-9499

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Qt
 

Affected Versions

Qt: Qt: