# CVE-2026-88832: BusyBox romfs volume ID parsing heap buffer overflow

Source: https://junglewise.ai/threats/cve-2026-88832-busybox-romfs-volume-id-parsing-uses-unbounded-strlen-on-attacker  
Publisher: Junglewise Threat Intelligence, https://junglewise.ai/threats  
Published: 2026-09-23. Updated: 2026-09-26  
License: CC BY 4.0 with a link back

CVE-2026-88832 · Severity: high · CVSS 7.3 · Published 2026-09-23

BusyBox, a lightweight Unix toolkit used in embedded systems and containers, contains a heap buffer overflow in its romfs filesystem volume ID parsing logic. An attacker can craft a malicious filesystem image that triggers the overflow when processed, potentially allowing arbitrary code execution or denial of service on systems that parse untrusted filesystem images.

Technologies: [Busybox](https://junglewise.ai/threats/technologies/busybox). Vendors: [Busybox](https://junglewise.ai/threats/vendors/busybox).

## Quick answers

**Is CVE-2026-88832 exploited in the wild?** No. Junglewise Threat Intelligence has no report of CVE-2026-88832 being exploited in the wild.

**How severe is CVE-2026-88832?** High severity, with a CVSS score of 7.3, published 23 September 2026.

**Which products and versions are affected?** Busybox before 1.37.0-9.1.hum1.

**Is there a fix for CVE-2026-88832?** A patch was published on 2026-09-25: Fixed in BusyBox 1.37.0-9.1.hum1 Junglewise finds every place you run it, drafts the upgrade and applies it once you approve.

**How is CVE-2026-88832 attacked?** It is attacked with local access.

**Am I affected by CVE-2026-88832?** Check whether you run Busybox 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.

## Technical details

The vulnerability exists in romfs volume ID parsing code that performs an unbounded strlen operation on attacker-controlled metadata without proper bounds checking, resulting in a heap buffer overflow. An attacker must supply a crafted romfs filesystem image to trigger the vulnerability; exploitation requires the target system to process the malicious image. This could lead to code execution depending on heap state and memory protections.

## Affected products

- BusyBox BusyBox before 1.37.0-9.1.hum1

## Timeline

- 2026-09-23: disclosed
- 2026-09-25: patched: Fixed in BusyBox 1.37.0-9.1.hum1

## References

- [https://catalog.redhat.com/software/containers/](https://catalog.redhat.com/software/containers/)
- [https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:72111](https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:72111)

## Related threats

- [BusyBox divide-by-zero in volume identification FAT parser](https://junglewise.ai/threats/cve-2026-124742-a-flaw-was-found-in-busybox-the-volume-identification-component)
- [BusyBox httpd stack buffer overflow in subdirectory config](https://junglewise.ai/threats/cve-2026-124739-a-flaw-was-found-in-busybox-when-the-httpd-web-server-processes)
- [BusyBox heap buffer overflow in TFTP client](https://junglewise.ai/threats/cve-2026-124737-a-flaw-was-found-in-busybox-when-the-tftp-trivial-file-transfer)
- [BusyBox libarchive symlink directory traversal arbitrary file creation](https://junglewise.ai/threats/cve-2026-92205-busybox-libarchive-symlink-directory-traversal-arbitrary-file)
- [BusyBox udhcpc integer underflow in DHCP packet processing](https://junglewise.ai/threats/cve-2026-88833-a-flaw-was-found-in-busybox-s-udhcpc-dhcp-client-when-processing)