CVE-2026-45696OpenEXR HTJ2K decoder heap buffer over-read in ht_undo_impl() (DoS)
- 8.3HighCVSS base score
- 0.42%Exploitation in 30 daysEPSS · top 63% of all CVEs
- NoKnown exploitednot in CISA's KEV catalog
- YesPublic exploitsa reference or SSVC says so
Description
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 3.4.11, the HTJ2K (High-Throughput JPEG 2000) decoder, ht_undo_impl() in OpenEXRCore is vulnerable to a heap-buffer-overflow READ. The ht_undo_imp function copies decoded pixels out of a per-line OpenJPH buffer using the EXR channel's declared width as the iteration count. The codestream embedded in the EXR chunk can declare different (smaller) tile/line dimensions than the EXR header advertises, but ht_undo_impl() does not validate this — it pulls width 32-bit samples from cur_line->i32[] without checking the OpenJPH line buffer's actual length. A crafted EXR file produces a 4-byte heap-buffer-overflow READ immediately after a buffer allocated by ojph::local::codestream::finalize_alloc(). The bug is reachable through the standard scanline-decode entry point used by every consumer of exr_decoding_run/Imf::checkOpenEXRFile, including thumbnailers, asset pipelines, and the exrcheck utility — i.e. any application that opens untrusted EXR files. The result is a deterministic crash (DoS) and potential adjacent-heap leak. This issue has been fixed in version 3.4.12.
Public exploit
An exploit or proof of concept is public: anyone can try it against an unpatched system. A reference of the record is tagged as an exploit. CISA's SSVC rates its exploitation: a proof of concept is public.
Show the exploits1
References tagged exploit1 reference
Timeline
ID reserved
By GitHub_M
- 36 days later
· 36 days later
Published
- 27 days later
· 27 days later
Record updated
Changes after publication (a new score, a public exploit, EPSS crossing 1, 10 or 50 %, leaving KEV) are kept since November 2026; earlier ones are not known.
Scores
| Scored by | CVSS | Score | Vector |
|---|---|---|---|
| GitHub_MCNA (assigner) | 4.0 | High8.3 | CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:H |
| redhat-SADPADP (enrichment) | 3.1 | High7.1 | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:H |
| NVDNVD · Modified | 4.0 | High8.3 | CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:H/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X |
- EPSS (exploitation in 30 days)
- 0.42% · top 63% of all CVEs (14 Nov 2026)
- CISA SSVC
- Exploitation: poc · Automatable: no · Technical impact: partial
The list uses the assigner's score when there is one, then CISA's, then NVD's: High 8.3.
Affected products
AcademySoftwareFoundation · openexr
- affected >= 3.4.0, < 3.4.11
References
References5
- https://github.com/AcademySoftwareFoundation/openexr/security/advisories/GHSA-gjpj-qv64-vwhf (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_CONFIRMexploit
- https://github.com/AcademySoftwareFoundation/openexr/releases/tag/v3.4.12 (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_MISC
- https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-45696 (opens in a new tab)vdb-entryx_refsource_REDHAT
- RHBZ#2490597 (opens in a new tab)issue-trackingx_refsource_REDHAT
- https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/2026/cve-2026-45696.json (opens in a new tab)x_sadp-csaf-vex
Sources
The same CVE in the primary databases and aggregators, to check against.
- CVE.org record (opens in a new tab)
- CVE List JSON (GitHub) (opens in a new tab)
- NVD (opens in a new tab)
- FIRST EPSS (opens in a new tab)
- EUVD EUVD-2026-37948 (opens in a new tab)
- OSV.dev (opens in a new tab)
- GitHub Advisories (opens in a new tab)
- CIRCL Vulnerability-Lookup (opens in a new tab)
Badge for a README or a ticket
[](https://cveledger.app/cve/CVE-2026-45696)Record last updated .