USN-8166-1: RetroArch vulnerability

Publication date

12 April 2026

Overview

RetroArch could be made to crash or run programs as your login if it opened a specially crafted file.


Packages

  • retroarch - A frontend for emulators, game engines and media players

Details

It was discovered that RetroArch did not correctly handle certain memory
operations, which could lead to a buffer overflow. If a user or automated
system were tricked into opening a specially crafted file, an attacker
could possibly use this issue to cause a denial of service or execute
arbitrary code. This issue only affected Ubuntu 24.04 LTS and Ubuntu 25.10.

It was discovered that RetroArch did not correctly handle certain memory
operations, which could lead to a buffer overflow. If a user or automated
system were tricked into opening a specially crafted file, an attacker
could possibly use this issue to cause a denial of service or execute
arbitrary code. This issue only affected Ubuntu 24.04 LTS and Ubuntu 25.10.

Update instructions

In general, a standard system update will make all the necessary changes.

Learn more about how to get the fixes.

The problem can be corrected by updating your system to the following package versions:

Ubuntu Release Package Version
25.10 questing retroarch –  1.20.0+dfsg-3ubuntu0.1
retroarch-dev –  1.20.0+dfsg-3ubuntu0.1
24.04 LTS noble retroarch –  1.18.0+dfsg-1ubuntu0.1~esm1  
retroarch-dev –  1.18.0+dfsg-1ubuntu0.1~esm1  

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