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TI-2026-69426 Aliases CVE-2026-44031GHSA-hxvw-37gr-vg44

DCMTK DICOM parser uncontrolled recursion enables unauthenticated remote DoS

Priority LOW 38CWE-674Published · Updated

Key facts

Attack vector
Network
Privileges required
None
User interaction
None
Attack complexity
Low
Attack requirements
None
Impact type
Denial of service
Confidentiality · integrity · availability
None · None · High
Fix status
No fix listed

Attack profile from CVSS 4.0 · CNA. Fix status from CNA. Impact type from CWE-674.

Summary

Uncontrolled recursion in DcmSequenceOfItems::read() and DcmItem::read() in the dcmdata library of OFFIS DCMTK 3.7.0 lets a remote, unauthenticated attacker crash a DICOM service via a dataset with deeply nested SQ elements, causing stack exhaustion and a process crash. The dataset can arrive in a C-STORE request to storescp, dcmrecv, dcmqrscp or any other DCMTK-based DICOM service, because it is parsed before authentication. Local tools such as dcmdump also crash when opening such a file. The fix in commit 885ff0f10372bd589b5f44cea974f28a3964cb0f adds a configurable sequence nesting depth limit, default 64.

Written with Claude Haiku 5.5 from the sources below · 2026-10-29

Description from the CNA

Uncontrolled recursion in DcmSequenceOfItems::read() and DcmItem::read() in the dcmdata library of OFFIS DCMTK 3.7.0 allows a remote, unauthenticated attacker to cause a denial of service (stack exhaustion and process crash) via a DICOM dataset containing deeply nested sequences (SQ elements). The dataset can be sent in a C-STORE request to storescp, dcmrecv, dcmqrscp, or any other DICOM service built on DCMTK, because the received dataset is parsed before any authentication takes place. Local tools such as dcmdump also crash when opening such a file. The issue is fixed in commit 885ff0f10372bd589b5f44cea974f28a3964cb0f, which adds a configurable sequence nesting depth limit (default 64).

Why it matters now

Exploitation None reported CISA SSVC · not in CISA KEV
EPSS 0.00391 33rd percentileScored 2026-11-07
Fix No fix listed No fixed version in the sources yet

SSVC decision points

CISA ADP · SSVC 2.0.3

Exploitation
None
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

VendorProductAffected versionsFixed inStatusSource
OFFISDCMTK3.7.0—No fix listedCNA
  • DCMTK VendorOFFIS Affected 3.7.0 Fixed in — No fix listed CNA

CPE names CNA · 1

CPEVersionsRoleVendor
cpe:2.3:a:offis:dcmtk:3.7.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*3.7.0—OFFIS
  • cpe:2.3:a:offis:dcmtk:3.7.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 3.7.0 — ·OFFIS

Remediation

Apply commit 885ff0f10372bd589b5f44cea974f28a3964cb0f, which adds a configurable sequence nesting depth limit with a default of 64. No fixed release is listed in the advisory, so DCMTK 3.7.0 and later builds need the patch or an equivalent limit.

Written with Claude Haiku 5.5 from the sources below · 2026-10-29

Timeline

  1. 2026-10-08 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-44031
  2. 2026-10-08 Alias added: GHSA-hxvw-37gr-vg44

References

Patch 1

Advisory 1

  • TI-2026-10943 OFFIS DCMTK ofxml.cc parseFile heap-based overflow CVSS 4.0MEDIUM 5.3
  • TI-2025-08922 DCMTK dcm2img diybrpxt.h memory corruption CVSS 4.0MEDIUM 4.8
  • TI-2022-04568 DCMTK dcmqrscp dcmqrcnf.cc readPeerList null pointer dereference CVSS 4.0MEDIUM 4.8
  • TI-2020-18990 DCMTK dcmqrscp parseQuota stack-based overflow CVSS 4.0MEDIUM 4.8
  • TI-2024-22823 dcmnet in DCMTK before 3.6.9 has a segmentation fault via an invalid DIMSE message. CVSS 3.1MEDIUM 4.3
  • TI-2019-16028 Out-of-bounds write in OFFIS.de DCMTK CVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.8
See all 35 →

Sources

This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. Sources and licences