EUVD-2026-44023
GHSA-cfg6-hjhr-wr3x
Severity by source
AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
GDI+ parses attacker-supplied graphics locally with no privileges (AV:L/PR:N), but rendering realistically requires the victim to open/preview the file, so UI:R; memory corruption yields full C:H/I:H/A:H.
Primary rating from Vendor (microsoft).
CVSS VectorVendor: microsoft
Lifecycle Timeline
2DescriptionCVE.org
Heap-based buffer overflow in Windows GDI+ allows an unauthorized attacker to execute code locally.
AnalysisAI
Local code execution in Microsoft Windows GDI+ (the graphics rendering component) via a heap-based buffer overflow (CWE-122), affecting a broad range of Windows client and server releases from Windows 10 1607 through Windows 11 26H1 and Server 2012 through Server 2025. Per the supplied CVSS vector (PR:N), an unauthorized attacker who gets the vulnerable component to process crafted graphics data can achieve high-impact code execution (C:H/I:H/A:H) on the local system. Microsoft has published a patch; there is no public exploit identified at time of analysis and the issue is not listed in CISA KEV.
Technical ContextAI
GDI+ (Windows Graphics Device Interface Plus, implemented in gdiplus.dll) is the core Windows subsystem responsible for parsing and rendering 2D vector and raster image formats - JPEG, PNG, GIF, TIFF, and EMF/WMF metafiles. It is invoked pervasively by the OS shell, Office, browsers, image viewers, and countless third-party applications that display images or thumbnails. The root cause is CWE-122, a heap-based buffer overflow: malformed dimension, header, or chunk-length fields in an image/metafile stream cause GDI+ to allocate an undersized heap buffer and then write attacker-controlled data past its bounds, corrupting adjacent heap metadata or object pointers. With heap grooming, that corruption can be converted into control-flow hijack and arbitrary code execution in the context of the process that loaded gdiplus.dll. The affected CPE set spans desktop SKUs (Windows 10 1607/1809/21H2/22H2, Windows 11 24H2/25H2/26H1) and server SKUs (Server 2012, 2012 R2, 2016, 2019, 2022, 2025, including Server Core installations), consistent with a shared vulnerable code path in the OS-provided GDI+ library.
RemediationAI
Patch available per vendor advisory: apply the Microsoft security update referenced at https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/vulnerability/CVE-2026-54122 for each affected SKU via Windows Update, WSUS, or your patch-management tooling; the input does not include exact fixed build numbers, so pull the per-SKU KB and build from the MSRC update guide. Prioritize systems that routinely render untrusted images or documents (mail gateways, file/print servers, workstations, RDS/session hosts). Where immediate patching is not possible, compensating controls include blocking or stripping EMF/WMF and unusual image attachments at the mail and web proxy and disabling automatic image/thumbnail preview in Explorer and mail clients (trade-off: lost inline previews and reduced usability). Note that Windows Server 2012/2012 R2 are past mainstream support and may require Extended Security Updates (ESU) to receive this fix, so verify ESU coverage before relying on it. These workarounds reduce but do not eliminate exposure because GDI+ is invoked by many applications; the patch is the only complete remediation.
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Same weakness CWE-122 – Heap-based Buffer Overflow
View allSame technique Heap Overflow
View allShare
External POC / Exploit Code
Leaving vuln.today