OpenEXR: Unhandled assert abort in HTJ2K decoder via crafted QCD marker (DoS)
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Network
- Privileges required
- None
- User interaction
- Passive
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Attack requirements
- None
- Impact type
- Denial of service
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- None · None · High
- Fix status
- Fixed
Attack profile from CVSS 4.0 · CNA. Fix status from CNA. Impact type from CWE-617.
Summary
OpenEXR is the reference implementation and specification for the EXR image format, widely used in the motion picture industry. In versions 3.4.0 through 3.4.12, a crafted HTJ2K-compressed EXR file causes an unconditional process abort in any application that calls exr_start_read() on untrusted input, resulting in denial of service. The crash is triggered by a QCD marker whose lower five bits are zero, which OpenEXR passes into the vendored OpenJPH library while constructing the codestream and evaluating its quantization delta parameters. OpenJPH uses an assertion rather than a recoverable error to validate those bits, so any invalid value calls abort() directly and cannot be intercepted by surrounding error handling, a problem compounded by OpenEXR wrapping only its internal HT header parser in error handling while leaving the later codestream read and construction calls unprotected. This issue has been resolved in version 3.4.13.
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
CISA ADP · SSVC 2.0.3
- Exploitation
- Poc
- Automatable
- Yes
- 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 | 3.4.0 to before 3.4.13 | 3.4.13 | Patch available | CNA |
- openexr VendorAcademySoftwareFoundation Affected 3.4.0 to before 3.4.13 Fixed in 3.4.13 Patch available CNA
CPE names Threatist (inferred) · 1
Inferred from how NVD named this product before; not given by a source.
| CPE | Versions | Role | Vendor |
|---|---|---|---|
| cpe:2.3:a:openexr:openexr:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | — | — | Academy Software Foundation |
- cpe:2.3:a:openexr:openexr:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions — — ·Academy Software Foundation
Remediation
- Fix · CNA openexr (AcademySoftwareFoundation) Fixed in 3.4.13
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-2026-53532
References
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-2026-48281 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
- TI-2026-42337 OpenEXR: exrmetrics deep pixelmode heap buffer overflow CVSS 3.1HIGH 7.1
Sources
- CVE-2026-53532 · CVE Program
- CVE-2026-53532 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- CVE-2026-53532 · 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