CVE-2026-42170: Gimp: gimp dds plug-in heap-based buffer overflow via bpp mismatch in load_layer() (ddsread.c)

Severity: high (CVSS 7.8 v3.1)
Exploited in the wild: not listed in CISA KEV
EPSS: 0.2% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days
Public exploit or detection template: none known
Published: 2026-08-08 · updated 2026-09-01
Weakness: CWE-131

Description

A heap-based buffer overflow vulnerability exists in the GIMP DDS (DirectDraw Surface) file parser. When a crafted DDS file declares a D3D9 pixel format but sets a lower bits-per-pixel (bpp) value in the header, the loader allocates an undersized heap buffer. Subsequent pixel data consumption at the real format's stride causes a write past the heap buffer boundary, leading to heap metadata corruption and potential code execution.

Affected products

Red Hat Enterprise Linux: 6.0, 7.0, 8.0, 9.0

References

https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-42170
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2461726

Get alerted when CVE-2026-42170 or the next vulnerability affects your stack