Executive brief
ExifReader, a library used to extract metadata from images, is vulnerable to a denial-of-service attack. By uploading a specially crafted image file (such as a JPEG or PNG), an attacker can force the application to consume excessive amounts of memory. This can lead to the application crashing or becoming unavailable, potentially disrupting services that process user-uploaded images.
Technical details
ExifReader is vulnerable to a denial of service (DoS) due to improper validation of specified quantities in the ICC 'multiLocalizedUnicodeType' (mluc) tag. When parsing an image with a crafted ICC profile, the library allocates memory based on attacker-controlled fields within the tag rather than the actual input size. This leads to an out-of-memory (OOM) condition and process termination. The vulnerability is reachable via any image format supporting ICC profiles, including JPEG, TIFF, PNG, HEIC, AVIF, JPEG XL, and WebP. A fix is available in version 4.39.0.
Affected products
- mattiasw exifreader >= 2.10.0, < 4.39.0
Timeline
- 2026-05-18: disclosed
- 2026-05-19: advisory: NVD publication date
- 2026-05-29: patched: GitHub Advisory reviewed and updated
References
- https://api.github.com/users/yuki-matsuhashi
- https://github.com/yuki-matsuhashi
- https://api.github.com/users/yuki-matsuhashi/gists%7B/gist_id%7D
- https://api.github.com/users/yuki-matsuhashi/repos
- https://avatars.githubusercontent.com/u/250794953?v=4
- https://api.github.com/users/yuki-matsuhashi/events%7B/privacy%7D