CVE-2026-45696
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.
Does this matter?
High impact if exploited, but EPSS currently rates exploitation as unlikely (0.42%). Schedule it in the normal patch cycle and watch for a rise in EPSS or a public exploit.
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.
- CVSS 4.0
- 8.3 HIGHCVSS: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/M
- EPSS
- 0.42% probability · 35th percentile
- CISA KEV
- Not listed
- Weakness
- CWE-122, CWE-125
- Affected
- openexr/openexr
- Source
- security-advisories@github.com
References
- https://github.com/AcademySoftwareFoundation/openexr/releases/tag/v3.4.12Release Notes
- https://github.com/AcademySoftwareFoundation/openexr/security/advisories/GHSA-gjpj-qv64-vwhfExploit, Vendor Advisory
- https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-45696
- https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2490597
- https://github.com/AcademySoftwareFoundation/openexr/security/advisories/GHSA-gjpj-qv64-vwhfExploit, Vendor Advisory
- https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/2026/cve-2026-45696.json
Source: NVD record, EPSS from FIRST.org, KEV from CISA. Refreshed daily.