OpenEXR has heap-buffer-overflow via signed integer underflow in ImfContextInit.cpp
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Network
- Privileges required
- None
- User interaction
- Required
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Impact type
- —
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- None · None · High
- Fix status
- Fixed
Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · CNA. Fix status from CNA and GitHub.
Summary
OpenEXR provides the specification and reference implementation of the EXR file format, an image storage format for the motion picture industry. In versions 3.3.0 through 3.3.6 and 3.4.0 through 3.4.4, a heap-buffer-overflow (OOB read) occurs in the `istream_nonparallel_read` function in `ImfContextInit.cpp` when parsing a malformed EXR file through a memory-mapped `IStream`. A signed integer subtraction produces a negative value that is implicitly converted to `size_t`, resulting in a massive length being passed to `memcpy`. Versions 3.3.7 and 3.4.5 contain a patch.
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
CISA ADP · SSVC 2.0.3
- Exploitation
- Poc
- Automatable
- No
- Technical impact
- Partial
The decision (Track, Attend, Act) also depends on your mission and well-being impact; see CISA's SSVC guide.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AcademySoftwareFoundation | openexr | 3.3.0 to before 3.3.7; 3.4.0 to before 3.4.5 | 3.3.7, 3.4.5 | Patch available | CNA |
| — | OpenEXR (PyPI) | 3.3.0 to before 3.3.7 | 3.3.7 | Patch available | GHSA-q6vj-wxvf-5m8c |
| — | OpenEXR (PyPI) | 3.4.0 to before 3.4.5 | 3.4.5 | Patch available | GHSA-q6vj-wxvf-5m8c |
- openexr VendorAcademySoftwareFoundation Affected 3.3.0 to before 3.3.7; 3.4.0 to before 3.4.5 Fixed in 3.3.7, 3.4.5 Patch available CNA
- OpenEXR (PyPI) Vendor— Affected 3.3.0 to before 3.3.7 Fixed in 3.3.7 Patch available GHSA-q6vj-wxvf-5m8c
- OpenEXR (PyPI) Vendor— Affected 3.4.0 to before 3.4.5 Fixed in 3.4.5 Patch available GHSA-q6vj-wxvf-5m8c
CPE configurations NVD · 1
| CPE | Versions | Role | Vendor |
|---|---|---|---|
| cpe:2.3:a:openexr:openexr:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | 3.3.0 to before 3.3.7; 3.4.0 to before 3.4.5 | Vulnerable | Academy Software Foundation |
- cpe:2.3:a:openexr:openexr:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 3.3.0 to before 3.3.7; 3.4.0 to before 3.4.5 Vulnerable ·Academy Software Foundation
Remediation
- Fix · CNA openexr (AcademySoftwareFoundation) Fixed in 3.3.7, 3.4.5
- Fix · GHSA-q6vj-wxvf-5m8c OpenEXR (PyPI) Fixed in 3.3.7 Advisory →
- Fix · GHSA-q6vj-wxvf-5m8c OpenEXR (PyPI) Fixed in 3.4.5 Advisory →
Vendor assessments
Red Hat
Red Hat rating: Moderate. Red Hat's page for this CVE →
Not affected: 5 products
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-26981
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-q6vj-wxvf-5m8c
References
Exploit 1
Patch 2
More AcademySoftwareFoundation vulnerabilities
- TI-2026-30739 OpenColorIO vulnerable to stack buffer overflow via unbounded `sscanf %s` in Spi3D (.spi3d) LUT parser CVSS 4.0HIGH 8.4
- TI-2026-38605 OpenEXR: Unhandled assert abort in HTJ2K decoder via crafted QCD marker (DoS) CVSS 4.0HIGH 7.1
- TI-2026-48281 OpenEXR: Heap out-of-bounds write in exrmultiview with subsampled channel union CVSS 3.1HIGH 7.1
- TI-2026-48279 OpenEXR: Heap buffer overflow in PyOpenEXR from literal/prefixed RGB channel name collision CVSS 3.1HIGH 7.1
- TI-2026-42768 OpenEXR: Heap OOB read in SampleCountChannel row when using nonzero dataWindow CVSS 3.1HIGH 7.1
- TI-2026-42338 OpenEXR: Out-of-bounds read in DeepImageChannel::row() for non-zero dataWindow origin CVSS 3.1HIGH 7.1
Sources
- CVE-2026-26981 · CVE Program
- CVE-2026-26981 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-q6vj-wxvf-5m8c · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2026-26981 · Red Hat security data · CC BY 4.0
This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. Sources and licences