CVE-2026-45527 in Android
Summary
by MITRE • 09/08/2026
In convertCleanApertureToRect of HeifCleanAperture.cpp, there is a possible way to cause a temporary denial of service due to an integer overflow. This could lead to remote denial of service with no additional execution privileges needed. User interaction is not needed for exploitation.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 09/08/2026
The vulnerability identified in the convertCleanApertureToRect function within HeifCleanAperture.cpp represents a critical security flaw rooted in improper handling of arithmetic operations during image processing. This specific component is responsible for parsing and converting clean aperture metadata found in High Efficiency Image File Format containers, commonly known as HEIF or HEIC files. The core technical issue stems from an integer overflow condition that occurs when the function calculates rectangular coordinates based on input values derived from the file header. When maliciously crafted data containing extreme or malformed numerical values is processed, the arithmetic operation exceeds the maximum limit of the allocated integer type. Instead of triggering a bounds check or throwing an exception to handle this invalid state gracefully, the system wraps around or produces an incorrect memory address calculation. This miscalculation leads directly to out-of-bounds memory access or allocation failures within the application's runtime environment.
From an operational perspective, this flaw allows for remote denial of service attacks without requiring any prior authentication or elevated privileges on the target system. An attacker can exploit this vulnerability by distributing a specially crafted HEIF file through various vectors such as email attachments, messaging applications, web downloads, or cloud storage links. Since user interaction is not required beyond opening or previewing the image in an affected application, the attack surface is significantly broadened. The immediate impact of exploiting this integer overflow is typically a crash of the host process handling the media file. This results in a temporary denial of service for users attempting to view images using vulnerable software versions. In more complex scenarios involving memory corruption, such as heap overflows resulting from incorrect size calculations, the consequences could escalate beyond simple crashes to potential arbitrary code execution, although the primary reported impact remains focused on availability disruption due to application instability.
This vulnerability aligns with Common Weakness Enumeration category CWE-190, which describes integer overflow or wraparound errors that occur when an arithmetic operation results in a value larger than what can be represented by the target data type. The exploitation technique falls under MITRE ATT&CK tactic T1499, specifically Endpoint Denial of Service via application crashes. Security researchers and developers must recognize that media parsing libraries are frequent targets for such exploits because they process untrusted external input with complex logic paths. To mitigate this risk, immediate patching is essential to update the underlying library to a version where integer overflow checks have been implemented before arithmetic operations proceed. Developers should enforce strict validation of all numerical fields extracted from HEIF headers, ensuring that values fall within expected ranges for aperture dimensions and offsets. Additionally implementing fuzz testing during development cycles can help identify similar edge cases in other media parsing functions. System administrators should also consider deploying application whitelisting or sandboxing solutions to limit the impact if such a vulnerability is encountered before patches are applied, thereby containing potential crashes to isolated environments rather than affecting critical system resources.