CVE-2026-41445 KissFFT Integer Overflow leads to Heap Buffer Overflow

CVE-2026-41445 is a newly reported vulnerability affecting the KissFFT library. The vulnerability is located within the kiss_fftndr_alloc() function and results from an integer overflow. Successful exploitation of this vulnerability could allow an attacker to cause a heap buffer overflow, potentially leading to arbitrary code execution. This vulnerability was reported through the Microsoft Security Response Center, indicating a potential impact on Microsoft products or services that utilize the KissFFT library. Defenders should monitor for exploitation attempts and implement mitigations as soon as patches are available.

Attack Chain

While exploitation details are currently unavailable, the following attack chain is inferred from the vulnerability type and function name:

1. An attacker crafts a malicious input with specially designed dimensions to be processed by KissFFT.
2. This malicious input is passed to a function that calls kiss_fftndr_alloc().
3. Within kiss_fftndr_alloc(), the attacker’s input triggers an integer overflow when calculating the buffer size.
4. A smaller-than-required memory buffer is allocated on the heap as a result of the overflow.
5. Subsequent operations attempt to write data larger than the allocated buffer into the undersized heap buffer.
6. This write operation overflows the heap buffer, corrupting adjacent memory regions.
7. The memory corruption leads to a crash or, in some cases, arbitrary code execution depending on the overwritten data.
8. The attacker gains control of the application.

Impact

Successful exploitation of CVE-2026-41445 can lead to denial of service due to application crashes, or potentially arbitrary code execution. Since the vulnerability resides in the KissFFT library, applications that utilize this library for FFT processing are potentially vulnerable. The exact impact depends on the privileges of the application using the library. If exploited in a privileged process, it could lead to system compromise.

Recommendation

• Monitor web server logs (category: webserver, product: linux|windows) for unusual patterns in requests that may be attempting to trigger the vulnerability.
• Deploy the Sigma rule to detect potential attempts to exploit integer overflows in memory allocation functions.
• Apply patches released by Microsoft as soon as they become available to remediate CVE-2026-41445.