# CVE-2026-115396: Ghidra zip bomb vulnerability in theme import

Source: https://junglewise.ai/threats/cve-2026-115396-ghidra-10-3-before-12-2-contains-an-improper-handling-of-highly  
Publisher: Junglewise Threat Intelligence, https://junglewise.ai/threats  
Published: 2026-10-22. Updated: 2026-10-22  
License: CC BY 4.0 with a link back

CVE-2026-115396 · Severity: medium · CVSS 5.5 · Published 2026-10-22

Ghidra is a reverse engineering framework used by security analysts to examine and modify software. A flaw in its theme import feature fails to validate compressed data, allowing attackers to craft malicious theme files that expand to consume all available disk space when imported, preventing the application and system from writing files normally.

Technologies: [National Security Agency Ghidra](https://junglewise.ai/threats/technologies/ghidra). Vendors: [National Security Agency](https://junglewise.ai/threats/vendors/national-security-agency).

## Quick answers

**Is CVE-2026-115396 exploited in the wild?** No. Junglewise Threat Intelligence has no report of CVE-2026-115396 being exploited in the wild.

**How severe is CVE-2026-115396?** Medium severity, with a CVSS score of 5.5, published 22 October 2026.

**Which products and versions are affected?** National Security Agency Ghidra 10.3 to before 12.2.

**Is there a fix for CVE-2026-115396?** Yes: fixed in Ghidra 12.2. Junglewise finds every place you run it, drafts the upgrade and applies it once you approve.

**How is CVE-2026-115396 attacked?** It is attacked with local access, in a software library.

**Am I affected by CVE-2026-115396?** Check whether you run National Security Agency Ghidra at an affected version. Junglewise does that check for you around the clock: connect your code, cloud and domains, and it matches new vulnerabilities like this one against what you actually run and tells you when one reaches you.

## How to fix

- Fixed in Ghidra 12.2

## Technical details

The ThemeReader.processIconFile() method in Ghidra 10.3 through 12.2 does not enforce limits on decompression size or compression ratios when processing theme ZIP archives. An attacker can create a crafted theme ZIP with icon entries that decompress to enormous sizes (a "zip bomb"), exploiting insufficient input validation. This requires user interaction to import the malicious theme.

## Affected products

- National Security Agency Ghidra 10.3 to before 12.2

## Timeline

- 2026-10-22: disclosed

## References

- [https://github.com/NationalSecurityAgency/ghidra](https://github.com/NationalSecurityAgency/ghidra)
- [https://github.com/NationalSecurityAgency/ghidra/commit/2c2bc5be182d655c9df418ac35b9782f39b6a784](https://github.com/NationalSecurityAgency/ghidra/commit/2c2bc5be182d655c9df418ac35b9782f39b6a784)

## Related threats

- [Ghidra zip bomb in extension extraction](https://junglewise.ai/threats/cve-2026-115503-ghidra-before-12-2-contains-an-improper-handling-of-highly)
- [Ghidra resource allocation without limits in extension extraction](https://junglewise.ai/threats/cve-2026-115397-ghidra-before-12-2-contains-a-resource-allocation-without-limits)
- [Ghidra resource exhaustion in theme ZIP extraction](https://junglewise.ai/threats/cve-2026-115395-ghidra-10-3-before-12-2-contains-a-resource-allocation-without)
- [National Security Agency Ghidra heap out-of-bounds read in StringManager](https://junglewise.ai/threats/cve-2026-100505-ghidra-versions-11-2-through-12-1-4-contain-a-heap-out-of-bounds)
- [Ghidra stack-based buffer overflow in decompiler leftshift128 function](https://junglewise.ai/threats/cve-2026-100504-ghidra-versions-through-12-1-4-contain-a-stack-based-out-of)