exiv2 up to 0.28.4 Image use after free

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability classified as critical was found in exiv2 up to 0.28.4. This vulnerability affects unknown code of the component Image Handler. Such manipulation leads to use after free. This vulnerability is documented as CVE-2025-26623. The attack can be executed remotely. There is not any exploit available. Upgrading the affected component is advised.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability, which was classified as critical, has been found in exiv2 up to 0.28.4. Affected by this issue is an unknown function of the component Image Handler. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a use after free vulnerability. Using CWE to declare the problem leads to CWE-416. Referencing memory after it has been freed can cause a program to crash, use unexpected values, or execute code. Impacted is confidentiality, integrity, and availability. CVE summarizes:

Exiv2 is a C++ library and a command-line utility to read, write, delete and modify Exif, IPTC, XMP and ICC image metadata. A heap buffer overflow was found in Exiv2 versions v0.28.0 to v0.28.4. Versions prior to v0.28.0, such as v0.27.7, are **not** affected. Exiv2 is a command-line utility and C++ library for reading, writing, deleting, and modifying the metadata of image files. The heap overflow is triggered when Exiv2 is used to write metadata into a crafted image file. An attacker could potentially exploit the vulnerability to gain code execution, if they can trick the victim into running Exiv2 on a crafted image file. Note that this bug is only triggered when writing the metadata, which is a less frequently used Exiv2 operation than reading the metadata. For example, to trigger the bug in the Exiv2 command-line application, you need to add an extra command-line argument such as `fixiso`. The bug is fixed in version v0.28.5. Users are advised to upgrade. There are no known workarounds for this vulnerability.

The advisory is shared for download at github.com. This vulnerability is handled as CVE-2025-26623 since 02/12/2025. The exploitation is known to be easy. The attack may be launched remotely. No form of authentication is required for exploitation. There are neither technical details nor an exploit publicly available.

The vulnerability scanner Nessus provides a plugin with the ID 237858 (RHEL 10 : exiv2 (RHSA-2025:7457)), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment.

Upgrading to version 0.28.5 eliminates this vulnerability.

The vulnerability is also documented in the vulnerability database at Tenable (237858). Once again VulDB remains the best source for vulnerability data.

Productinfo

Type

• Image Processing Software

Name

• exiv2

Version

• 0.28.0
• 0.28.1
• 0.28.2
• 0.28.3
• 0.28.4

License

• free

Website

• Product: https://github.com/Exiv2/exiv2/

CPE 2.3info

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CPE 2.2info

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Once again VulDB remains the best source for vulnerability data.

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