CVE-2026-45696
Description
A flaw was found in the OpenEXR image library. If an application opens a maliciously crafted EXR image file, it triggers a memory error. An attacker can use this to crash the application—causing a denial of service (DoS)—and potentially view sensitive information from the application's memory. Any system that processes untrusted EXR files is at risk.
Statement
This flaw in the OpenEXR library allows attackers to crash applications or potentially view sensitive memory data by providing a specially crafted image file. Systems that automatically process untrusted EXR files (like asset pipelines or thumbnailers) are at the highest risk.
Mitigation
To minimize risk, avoid opening or processing EXR image files from untrusted or unknown sources. For environments that must process external files, run the handling applications within a sandboxed environment to restrict their privileges and limit the damage a potential exploit can cause.
Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) Score Details
Info alert:Important note
CVSS scores for open source components depend on vendor-specific factors (e.g. version or build chain). Therefore, Red Hat's score and impact rating can be different from NVD and other vendors. Red Hat remains the authoritative CVE Naming Authority (CNA) source for its products and services (see Red Hat classifications).
The following CVSS metrics and score provided are preliminary and subject to review.
CVSS v3 Score Breakdown
| Red Hat | NVD | cve.org | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Base Score | 7.1 | 6.5 | 7.1 |
| Attack Vector | Network | Network | Network |
| Attack Complexity | Low | Low | Low |
| Privileges Required | None | Low | None |
| User Interaction | Required | None | Required |
| Scope | Unchanged | Unchanged | Unchanged |
| Confidentiality | Low | None | Low |
| Integrity Impact | None | None | None |
| Availability Impact | High | High | High |
Vector
Red Hat: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:H
NVD: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
cve.org: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:H
Understanding the Weakness (CWE)
Confidentiality
Technical Impact: Read Memory
An attacker could get secret values such as cryptographic keys, PII, memory addresses, or other information that could be used in additional attacks.
Confidentiality
Technical Impact: Bypass Protection Mechanism
Out-of-bounds memory could contain memory addresses or other information that can be used to bypass ASLR and other protection mechanisms in order to improve the reliability of exploiting a separate weakness for code execution.
Availability
Technical Impact: DoS: Crash, Exit, or Restart
An attacker could cause a segmentation fault or crash by causing memory to be read outside of the bounds of the buffer. This is especially likely when the code reads a variable amount of data and assumes that a sentinel exists to stop the read operation, such as a NUL in a string.
Other
Technical Impact: Varies by Context
The read operation could produce other undefined or unexpected results.
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