Executive brief
libvips is a high-performance image processing library used by many applications to resize and manipulate images. A vulnerability in how it handles image dimensions could allow an attacker to cause a system crash or potentially execute unauthorized code. This could lead to service disruptions or the compromise of data handled by the application using the library.
Technical details
An integer overflow vulnerability exists in the `vipsload` operation of libvips versions up to and including 8.18.0. The root cause is an incorrect calculation of image dimensions, which can trigger a heap-based buffer overflow during image processing. An attacker with local access could exploit this by providing a specially crafted image file to be processed by the library. Successful exploitation could lead to arbitrary code execution or a denial-of-service (DoS) condition. The issue has been addressed in version 8.18.1, and workarounds include blocking the 'VipsForeignLoadVips' operation or setting the VIPS_BLOCK_UNTRUSTED environment variable.
Affected products
- libvips libvips <= 8.18.0
Timeline
- 2026-03-07: patched: Fix merged into 8.18 branch
- 2026-07-17: advisory: GitHub Security Advisory published
- 2026-07-20: disclosed: CVE published to NVD