dbcve.org
GhidraApplication · Nsa

CVE-2026-4946

HIGH · 8.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2026-03-29
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 12.0.3 or later.
See remediation →
95/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable No privileges

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
Ghidra versions prior to 12.0.3 improperly process annotation directives embedded in automatically extracted binary data, resulting in arbitrary command execution when an analyst interacts with the UI. Specifically, the @execute annotation (which is intended for trusted, user-authored comments) is also parsed in comments generated during auto-analysis (such as CFStrings in Mach-O binaries). This allows a crafted binary to present seemingly benign clickable text which, when clicked, executes attacker-controlled commands on the analyst’s machine.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · moderate confidence

Ghidra versions before 12.0.3 improperly parse the @execute annotation directive in auto-generated comments (such as CFStrings from Mach-O binary analysis), allowing attackers to embed malicious clickable commands in seemingly benign binary data that execute when an analyst interacts with them.

MitigationUpgrade to Ghidra 12.0.3 or later; avoid clicking on any annotation or comment elements in auto-analyzed binary data until the upgrade is applied.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
GhidraApplication
Affected:< 12.0.3

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
Required
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify installed Ghidra version
    Launch Ghidra and navigate to Help > About Ghidra, or check the version shown in the installer filename or release notes that came with your distribution
    Affected if The version number displayed is lower than 12.0.3 (for example 12.0.2, 12.0.1, 11.x, or earlier)
  2. Confirm Ghidra is used for binary analysis
    Verify that your workflow involves loading and analyzing binary files (executables, libraries, firmware) using Ghidra's decompiler and disassembler
    Affected if You regularly use Ghidra to analyze compiled binary files
  3. Determine if you analyze Mach-O binaries
    Check whether you load or have loaded Apple Mach-O format binaries (common in macOS and iOS analysis) into Ghidra
    Affected if Your analysis workload includes Mach-O files, which can generate CFString auto-comments containing the vulnerable @execute annotation directive
  4. Inspect auto-generated comments in decompiled output
    When viewing decompiled code, examine any auto-generated comments (especially those appearing near string references) to see if they contain clickable annotation elements
    Affected if You observe clickable or interactive annotation elements in auto-generated comments from binary analysis, particularly in CFString representations from Mach-O files

You are affected if your Ghidra installation is version 12.0.2 or earlier AND you analyze Mach-O binaries (or other formats that produce auto-comments with @execute annotations) while viewing those comments in the decompiler.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 12.0.3 or later
Fixed in 12.0.3
Interim mitigation

Upgrade to Ghidra 12.0.3 or later; avoid clicking on any annotation or comment elements in auto-analyzed binary data until the upgrade is applied.

Recommended fix High confidence

12.0.3 or later

  1. Download Ghidra 12.0.3 or later from the official GitHub repository
  2. Verify the SHA-256 checksum of the downloaded distribution
  3. Extract the archive to a clean directory
  4. Launch the updated Ghidra version
  5. Open affected binaries only in the updated version to avoid the vulnerability

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Ghidra Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation1.0 h
  • Implementation1.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
5.0 hours of engineering $860
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,376.

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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2026-4946 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data