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GHSA-q879-9g95-56mx

GitHub Security Advisory

Wrong type for `Linker`-define functions when used across two `Engine`s

✓ GitHub Reviewed MODERATE Has CVE

Advisory Details

### Impact

As a Rust library the `wasmtime` crate clearly marks which functions are safe and which are `unsafe`, guaranteeing that if consumers never use `unsafe` then it should not be possible to have memory unsafety issues in their embeddings of Wasmtime. An issue was discovered in the safe API of `Linker::func_*` APIs. These APIs were previously not sound when one `Engine` was used to create the `Linker` and then a different `Engine` was used to create a `Store` and then the `Linker` was used to instantiate a module into that `Store`. Cross-`Engine` usage of functions is not supported in Wasmtime and this can result in type confusion of function pointers, resulting in being able to safely call a function with the wrong type.

Triggering this bug requires using at least two `Engine` values in an embedding and then additionally using two different values with a `Linker` (one at the creation time of the `Linker` and another when instantiating a module with the `Linker`).

It's expected that usage of more-than-one `Engine` in an embedding is relatively rare since an `Engine` is intended to be a globally shared resource, so the expectation is that the impact of this issue is relatively small.

The fix implemented is to change this behavior to `panic!()` in Rust instead of silently allowing it. Using different `Engine` instances with a `Linker` is a programmer bug that `wasmtime` catches at runtime.

### Patches

This bug has been patched and users should upgrade to Wasmtime version 0.30.0.

### Workarounds

If you cannot upgrade Wasmtime and are using more than one `Engine` in your embedding it's recommended to instead use only one `Engine` for the entire program if possible. An `Engine` is designed to be a globally shared resource that is suitable to have only one for the lifetime of an entire process. If using multiple `Engine`s is required then code should be audited to ensure that `Linker` is only used with one `Engine`.

### For more information

If you have any questions or comments about this advisory:

* Reach out to us on [the Bytecode Alliance Zulip chat](https://bytecodealliance.zulipchat.com/#narrow/stream/217126-wasmtime)
* Open an issue in [the `bytecodealliance/wasmtime` repository](https://github.com/bytecodealliance/wasmtime/)

Affected Packages

crates.io wasmtime
Affected versions: 0 (fixed in 0.30.0)
PyPI wasmtime
Affected versions: 0 (fixed in 0.30.0)

Related CVEs

Key Information

GHSA ID
GHSA-q879-9g95-56mx
Published
September 20, 2021 7:54 PM
Last Modified
November 19, 2024 6:05 PM
CVSS Score
5.0 /10
Primary Ecosystem
crates.io
Primary Package
wasmtime
GitHub Reviewed
✓ Yes

Dataset

Last updated: July 12, 2025 6:29 AM

Data from GitHub Advisory Database. This information is provided for research and educational purposes.