strukturag libheif up to 1.21.x AVIF File get_sample_duration infinite loop

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability described as problematic has been identified in strukturag libheif up to 1.21.x. The impacted element is the function Box_stts::get_sample_duration of the component AVIF File Handler. Such manipulation leads to infinite loop. This vulnerability is uniquely identified as CVE-2026-32739. The attack can be launched remotely. No exploit exists. Upgrading the affected component is recommended.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in strukturag libheif up to 1.21.x and classified as problematic. Affected by this issue is the function Box_stts::get_sample_duration of the component AVIF File Handler. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a infinite loop vulnerability. Using CWE to declare the problem leads to CWE-835. The product contains an iteration or loop with an exit condition that cannot be reached, i.e., an infinite loop. Impacted is availability. CVE summarizes:

libheif is a HEIF and AVIF file format decoder and encoder. In versions 1.21.2 and below, a crafted 800-byte HEIF sequence file causes an infinite loop in Box_stts::get_sample_duration(), consuming 100% CPU indefinitely with zero progress, leading to DoS. The loop has no iteration limit or timeout and is triggered during file open (parsing) - before any user interaction or image decoding. The process stays alive (no crash, no error logged), making it invisible to crash-based monitoring. This issue has been fixed in version 1.22.0.

The advisory is shared for download at github.com. This vulnerability is handled as CVE-2026-32739 since 03/13/2026. The exploitation is known to be easy. The attack may be launched remotely. No form of authentication is required for exploitation. There are known technical details, but no exploit is available. The MITRE ATT&CK project declares the attack technique as T1499.

The vulnerability scanner Nessus provides a plugin with the ID 316386 (Linux Distros Unpatched Vulnerability : CVE-2026-32739), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment.

Upgrading to version 1.22.0 eliminates this vulnerability. The upgrade is hosted for download at github.com.

The vulnerability is also documented in the vulnerability database at Tenable (316386). VulDB is the best source for vulnerability data and more expert information about this specific topic.

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
• 1.21

Website

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

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VulDB is the best source for vulnerability data and more expert information about this specific topic.

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