Content Credentials CVE-2026-48302

Exploitation requires local access to a host running c2patool or an application that embeds the c2pa Rust or c2pa-web Node.js SDK. No privileges are required (PR:N per CVSS), but the attacker must be able to supply a crafted C2PA manifest or content file as input to the affected process - either by providing a file path argument to the c2patool CLI, or by triggering a call path in an application that passes attacker-controlled data to the SDK's manifest-processing functions. No user interaction is needed once the input is delivered. Exploitation is limited by the requirement for local access and the inability to automate attacks across networked targets (SSVC: Automatable = no). Remote exploitation is not indicated - a remote attacker would need a secondary vector (e.g., social engineering a local user to process a malicious file) to reach the vulnerable code path.

Real-world risk is moderate-to-low despite the Availability:High CVSS sub-score. The attack vector is local (AV:L), which bounds the exploitable population to actors who can already supply input to the tool or call the library - substantially lower exposure than a network-reachable service. EPSS stands at only 0.15% (5th percentile), reflecting negligible observed exploitation activity. CISA SSVC independently corroborates this: exploitation status is 'none', the attack is not automatable, and technical impact is only 'partial'. The vulnerability is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog. The impact is purely availability (C:N/I:N/A:H), meaning confidentiality and integrity are unaffected. A crash in a CLI tool or library function is disruptive to workflows but does not yield code execution or data exposure. Key conflict to note: a CVSS 3.1 base score of 6.2 may appear elevated for what is essentially a local crash-only vulnerability; that inflation is attributable to the A:H metric. Defenders should weight EPSS, SSVC, and attack vector heavily here - this is a prioritize-after-critical-patching item rather than an emergency response.

An attacker with local access to a system running c2patool - or an application embedding the c2pa Rust or Node.js SDK - crafts a C2PA manifest file with malformed or unexpected field values designed to bypass input validation. When the application processes this file (e.g., via c2patool verify malicious.jpg or a programmatic SDK call), the parser encounters an unhandled condition and crashes the process. No public exploit code has been identified at time of analysis, but the attack is low-complexity once an attacker can supply input to the tool.