PocketSphinx: Buffer overflows in language and acoustic model loading code (CVE-2026-54559) | HOL Guard CVE

Medium severityCVE-2026-54559GHSA-56R5-2P2F-7CXP

PocketSphinx: Buffer overflows in language and acoustic model loading code

Answer in brief

CVE-2026-54559 records a Medium severity vulnerability in PocketSphinx: Buffer overflows in language and acoustic model loading code. The current sources do not mark it as known exploited. The current feed maps cmusphinx/pocketsphinx (generic), pocketsphinx (pip). Check affected ranges and fixed versions before updating.

Analysis pending evidence review

HOL Guard separates source facts from reviewed analysis. See the methodology.

Published Sep 14, 2026Updated Sep 15, 2026Source checked Sep 18, 2026First seen by HOL Jul 18, 2026Material review Sep 15, 2026

Upstream Advisory

Key facts

Risk: Medium
Exploitation: Not marked as known exploited
Affected software: 2 mapped packages or products
Fix availability: Available

Why this deserves its current priority

A CVSS score is not reported in the current record. The current sources do not mark it as known exploited. Treat this as a source-backed prioritization signal, not a statement about your environment.

Analysis status

Analysis pending evidence review

Factual feed record only; HOL analysis is not approved for indexing. Read the methodology.

Affected scope and exposure questions

The current feed maps cmusphinx/pocketsphinx (generic), pocketsphinx (pip). Check affected ranges and fixed versions before updating.

Mapped affected packages and fixed versions
Package	Affected range	Fixed version
cmusphinx/pocketsphinxgeneric	< 5.1.1	Not reported
pocketsphinxpip	<5.1.1	5.1.1

Recommended response

Check inventory. Check lockfiles and deployed manifests for cmusphinx/pocketsphinx, pocketsphinx.
Review the reported fix. Update pocketsphinx to 5.1.1 if you use the affected versions. Test the change in a non-production environment first.

Evidence timeline and material changes

Published upstream
Sep 14, 2026
Evidence: source:cvelist:source_dates:source-dates:record
Source modified
Sep 15, 2026
Evidence: source:cvelist:source_dates:source-dates:record
First seen by HOL
Jul 18, 2026

Sources and claim methodology

Upstream source description

PocketSphinx is a small speech recognizer. Prior to 5.1.1, the trie language-model loaders in src/lm/ngram_model_trie.c do not adequately validate boundary conditions in ARPA, DMP, and binary format headers, and the acoustic-model loaders in src/mdef.c and src/util/bio.c use sscanf with unbounded string fields. Loading an invalid, corrupted, or malicious language or acoustic model can therefore cause stack or heap buffer overflows and memory corruption. An attacker who can write to a directory selected by POCKETSPHINX_PATH can replace or add a model file that PocketSphinx later loads; users of PocketSphinx 5prealpha have no backported patch and must migrate to the fixed release. This issue is fixed in version 5.1.1.

Quoted source text, attributed separately from HOL analysis.