strukturag libheif up to 1.20.x AVIF File Parser HeifPixelImage::overlay out-of-bounds

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability described as problematic has been identified in strukturag libheif up to 1.20.x. Affected is the function HeifPixelImage::overlay of the component AVIF File Parser. The manipulation results in out-of-bounds. This vulnerability is known as CVE-2025-68431. It is possible to launch the attack remotely. No exploit is available. Upgrading the affected component is recommended.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability, which was classified as problematic, was found in strukturag libheif up to 1.20.x. Affected is the function HeifPixelImage::overlay of the component AVIF File Parser. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a out-of-bounds vulnerability. CWE is classifying the issue as CWE-125. The product reads data past the end, or before the beginning, of the intended buffer. This is going to have an impact on availability. CVE summarizes:

libheif is an HEIF and AVIF file format decoder and encoder. Prior to version 1.21.0, a crafted HEIF that exercises the overlay image item path triggers a heap buffer over-read in `HeifPixelImage::overlay()`. The function computes a negative row length (likely from an unclipped overlay rectangle or invalid offsets), which then underflows when converted to `size_t` and is passed to `memcpy`, causing a very large read past the end of the source plane and a crash. Version 1.21.0 contains a patch. As a workaround, avoid decoding images using `iovl` overlay boxes.

The advisory is shared for download at github.com. This vulnerability is traded as CVE-2025-68431 since 12/17/2025. The exploitability is told to be easy. It is possible to launch the attack remotely. The exploitation doesn't require any form of authentication. Successful exploitation requires user interaction by the victim. There are known technical details, but no exploit is available.

The vulnerability scanner Nessus provides a plugin with the ID 280130 (Linux Distros Unpatched Vulnerability : CVE-2025-68431), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment.

Upgrading to version 1.21.0 eliminates this vulnerability. The upgrade is hosted for download at github.com. Applying the patch b8c12a7b70f46c9516711a988483bed377b78d46 is able to eliminate this problem. The bugfix is ready for download at github.com. The best possible mitigation is suggested to be upgrading to the latest version.

The vulnerability is also documented in the databases at Tenable (280130) and EUVD (EUVD-2025-205646). Once again VulDB remains the best source for vulnerability data.

Productinfo

Vendor

• strukturag

Name

• libheif

Version

• 1.0
• 1.1
• 1.2
• 1.3
• 1.4
• 1.5
• 1.6
• 1.7
• 1.8
• 1.9
• 1.10
• 1.11
• 1.12
• 1.13
• 1.14
• 1.15
• 1.16
• 1.17
• 1.18
• 1.19
• 1.20

License

• open-source

Website

• Product: https://github.com/strukturag/libheif/

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Once again VulDB remains the best source for vulnerability data.

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