CVE-2026-112260 in GIMP
Summary
by MITRE • 10/19/2026
A flaw was found in GIMP. Opening a crafted XCF with a malformed text-layer parasite can cause a heap out-of-bounds read, disclosing adjacent heap data into layer text and causing denial of service.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 10/19/2026
The GNU Image Manipulation Program (GIMP) is a widely used free and open-source raster graphics editor that supports its native XCF file format for preserving layers, channels, paths, undo history, and other image metadata. The vulnerability identified in GIMP relates to the parsing logic of this proprietary binary format, specifically concerning how text-layer parasites are handled during file ingestion. A parasite in the context of GIMP is a piece of arbitrary data attached to an object such as an image or layer, often used by plugins to store specific information like metadata for non-GIMP applications or internal plugin state. When a user opens an XCF file containing a crafted text-layer with a malformed parasite structure, the application fails to properly validate the length and boundaries of this embedded data before attempting to read it into memory.
This failure results in a heap-based out-of-bounds read vulnerability. In technical terms, when GIMP processes the maliciously constructed XCF file, it allocates a buffer on the heap to store the text-layer content but does not strictly enforce that the parasite's declared size matches the actual available data or remains within the allocated memory segment boundaries. Consequently, the application reads beyond the intended end of the valid data structure into adjacent regions of the heap memory. This behavior allows an attacker who can trick a user into opening a specially crafted XCF file to cause GIMP to disclose sensitive information stored in neighboring memory locations. The disclosed data is then written back into the layer text field, effectively leaking whatever random or structured data happened to reside at that specific offset in the process's virtual address space.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple application instability. While the immediate effect may manifest as a denial of service if the read operation triggers an access violation and crashes the program, the more severe implication is information disclosure. By reading adjacent heap data, an attacker could potentially extract portions of other objects managed by GIMP at that moment in memory. This might include pointers to other structures, cryptographic keys used for session management or plugin authentication, passwords stored in temporary buffers, or even fragments of previously opened images and their associated metadata. Such information leakage can facilitate further attacks, including heap exploitation techniques aimed at achieving arbitrary code execution, although the primary confirmed impact remains data exfiltration and service disruption.
From a classification perspective, this vulnerability aligns with CWE-125, which describes Out-of-bounds Read, as it involves accessing memory beyond the allocated buffer limits. It also relates to CWE-200, Exposure of Sensitive Information to an Unauthorized Actor, due to the potential leakage of heap contents. In terms of adversary tactics, this flaw could be leveraged within the ATT&CK framework under T1537, which covers Decompression and Encoding Defenses Evasion, as attackers often use encoded or malformed file structures to bypass security controls during initial access phases. The vulnerability highlights the risks associated with parsing complex binary formats without rigorous bounds checking, a common challenge in image processing software that must handle diverse and potentially untrusted inputs from various sources including email attachments, web downloads, and user-generated content.
Mitigation strategies for this issue primarily involve updating GIMP to versions where the patch has been applied by upstream developers. The fix typically involves implementing strict validation checks on parasite sizes before memory allocation or read operations occur, ensuring that any requested data length does not exceed the actual available bytes in the file stream. Additionally, users should exercise caution when opening XCF files from untrusted sources and consider using sandboxed environments for editing potentially malicious documents until updates are deployed. Security researchers and developers working on similar image processing tools should adopt defensive programming practices such as fuzzing test suites to identify edge cases in binary parsers and enforce strict adherence to format specifications, thereby preventing out-of-bounds memory access vulnerabilities that compromise both confidentiality and availability of the software ecosystem.