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Attack ChainAIDerived

Hypothetical attack flow derived from CVE metadata – not a confirmed exploit chain

  1. Access
    Craft HDR file with oversized declared width
  2. Delivery
    Deliver file to victim (email/download)
  3. Exploit
    Victim opens file in GEGL-based app
  4. Execution
    Loader reads past mmap buffer end
  5. Impact
    Application crashes (DoS)

Vulnerability Assessment

Weakness
CWE
ASVS 5.0
V15 - Secure Coding and Architecture Bounds checking, read limits
MITRE ATT&CK

1 technique across 1 tactic: Collection

The technique list with ATT&CK links and the kill-chain view is part of the Basic plan and up.

Exploitation Conditions

Exploitation requires a local user to open an attacker-crafted Radiance HDR file whose header declares a width larger than the actual uncompressed scanline, in an application that uses GEGL's Radiance HDR loader (notably GIMP). The limiting factors are significant: the attack vector is local (AV:L), it depends on victim user interaction (UI:R - the file must be opened), and no authentication to GEGL itself is involved. There is no network-facing or default-service exposure; the impact is confined to crashing the consuming application (A:H, availability only).

Impact

All signals point to a low-priority, availability-only denial-of-service. The CVSS 3.1 vector (AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H, 5.5 Medium) is self-consistent with the description: the attack is LOCAL and requires a user to open a crafted Radiance HDR file (UI:R), with no confidentiality or integrity impact - only an application crash. No EPSS score, KEV entry, or public POC was provided, so exploitation status is 'no public exploit identified at time of analysis.' There is no SSVC data in the input. The one notable data conflict is the input Tags: 'Information Disclosure' is contradicted by the CVSS vector's C:N (there is no data leak - an out-of-bounds READ that crashes the process, not one that exfiltrates memory to the attacker), and 'Buffer Overflow' is a loose label for what CWE-125 and the description make clear is an out-of-bounds read, not a write. Net: this is a genuine-but-low-severity crash bug, not an urgent RCE; priority should track ordinary distro patch cadence rather than emergency response.

Exploit ScenarioDerived

An attacker crafts a malicious Radiance HDR (.hdr) image whose header declares a width larger than the actual uncompressed scanline data and distributes it (email attachment, download, embedded asset). When a victim opens the file in GIMP or any application linking GEGL's HDR loader, the loader reads past the end of the memory-mapped buffer and the application crashes. No public exploit code was identified, and the out-of-bounds read yields a denial of service only, not code execution or data disclosure.

This Month Plan within 30 days. Why: MEDIUM severity (CVSS 4.0-6.9).
No patch listed yet 0.1% exploitation probability (EPSS)

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AnalysisAIv1 – Oct 01, 2026

GEGL's Radiance HDR loader reads past the end of a memory-mapped image when a crafted .hdr file declares a scanline width larger than the actual data present in an uncompressed scanline, crashing the application that consumes the library - most notably GIMP, which uses GEGL for image processing. Any local user who opens such a file is affected; no authentication is required to the library, but the attacker must convince a victim to open the crafted file (UI:R), and the impact is availability-only (CVSS 5.5, AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H). No public exploit code has been identified at time of analysis and the issue is not listed in CISA KEV, consistent with a low-priority, local denial-of-service rather than a code-execution primitive.

RemediationAI

No vendor-released patch was identified at time of analysis, so the primary action is to monitor the Red Hat advisory at https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-103641 and the tracking bug https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2544420 and apply updated gegl packages as soon as errata are issued for each affected RHEL major version. Until then, the most effective compensating control is to prevent untrusted Radiance HDR files from reaching the loader: block or quarantine .hdr attachments at mail and web gateways, strip the Radiance HDR image loader from GEGL/GIMP deployments where HDR support is not required, and train users not to open .hdr files from untrusted sources - the trade-off being loss of legitimate HDR import capability in image workflows. Because exploitation requires user interaction with a local file, running GIMP or other GEGL consumers in a confined sandbox (flatpak, container, SELinux-confined session, or a low-privilege account) contains the crash to a disposable process and limits collateral damage to unsaved work, at the cost of reduced file-system access and integration. Organizations that cannot restrict file types should ensure affected desktops are patched promptly and enable crash reporting so that repeated loader crashes are detected, while noting that none of these measures are a substitute for the upstream fix once it is available.

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Technical ContextAI · show details

The vulnerability is a classic out-of-bounds read (CWE-125) in GEGL's Radiance HDR (RGBE .hdr) image loader. Radiance HDR files consist of a short ASCII header declaring resolution and format followed by scanline data that may be RLE-encoded or stored uncompressed; GEGL validates the header-declared width but, for uncompressed scanlines, does not verify that the actual bytes present in the memory-mapped file are at least as long as that declared width. Because the file is accessed through a memory mapping, the over-read extends beyond the mapped image region rather than being trapped by the allocator, so the fault manifests as a crash of the consuming process instead of a clean bounds error. GEGL is the generic graphics library underpinning GIMP's pixel pipeline, which means the loader is reachable from any application embedding GEGL that handles HDR files - GIMP being the primary real-world consumer. The affected distribution artifacts are the gegl/gegl04 packages shipped across Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10, as reflected in the CPE set for this CVE; the same upstream code is present in any distribution or third-party build that packages GEGL.

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  • Exploit and PoC references, threat intelligence from 22 sources

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Severity by source

Vendor (redhat) PRIMARY 5.5 MEDIUM
AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
vuln.today AI 5.5 MEDIUM

Local crafted-file open with required user interaction (AV:L/UI:R); out-of-bounds read causes application crash only, so C:N/I:N and A:H.

3.1 AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
4.0 AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:P/VC:N/VI:N/VA:L/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
Red Hat 5.5 MEDIUM

Primary rating from Vendor (redhat).

CVSS VectorVendor: redhat

Attack Vector
Local
Attack Complexity
Low
Privileges Required
None
User Interaction
Required
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

DescriptionCVE.org

A flaw was found in GEGL. The Radiance HDR loader reads past the end of a memory-mapped image when an uncompressed scanline is shorter than the width declared in the file header. Opening a crafted HDR file crashes the application that uses the loader.

Threat Intelligence Overview

EPSS Score
0.1%
Top 97% exploitable
Prevalence
Medium
GEGL is the image library behind GIMP, common on Linux desktops
Data Quality
3 sources
Confidence: Low

How this decision was reached

The engine reads each signal below and applies a fixed list of rules from top to bottom. The first rule that matches sets the recommended action – like a statement, every line is shown.

SignalValue
Severity MEDIUM
CISA KEV No
Public POC No
EPSS 0.1%
Patch available No
Active threat No
Deciding rule
MEDIUM severity (CVSS 4.0-6.9)
What every action level means
Emergency Immediate action required. Criteria: CRITICAL + in CISA KEV (actively exploited) without patch, OR CRITICAL + EPSS > 30% without patch, OR CRITICAL + active threat signals without patch.
Act Now Prioritize within 24-48h. Criteria: in KEV with patch available, OR CRITICAL + public POC, OR HIGH + EPSS > 10%, OR CRITICAL + active threat, OR any CRITICAL severity.
This Week Schedule remediation this week. Criteria: HIGH severity (CVSS 7.0-8.9). Patch within normal change window.
This Month Plan within 30 days. Criteria: MEDIUM severity (CVSS 4.0-6.9), lower exploitation probability. Include in regular patch cycle.
Monitor Track and reassess. Criteria: LOW severity (CVSS 0.1-3.9), minimal exploitation risk. No immediate action needed.

SSVC AssessmentENISA

SSVC Decision· derived
Defer
Exploitation
None
System Exposure· derived
Small
Automatable
No
Human Impact· derived
Medium
Technical Impact
Partial

Priority Score

28
Low Medium High Critical
KEV: 0
EPSS: 0
CVSS: +28
PoC: 0
Weaponized: 0
Threat intel: 0
Gov advisory: 0

Attack Technique

A buffer overflow occurs when a program writes more data to a memory buffer than it was allocated to hold, causing the excess data to spill into adjacent memory regions.

Affected Products (CPE)CVE.org

cpe:2.3:a:red_hat:red_hat_enterprise_linux_10:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:red_hat:red_hat_enterprise_linux_6:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:red_hat:red_hat_enterprise_linux_7:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:red_hat:red_hat_enterprise_linux_8:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:red_hat:red_hat_enterprise_linux_8:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:red_hat:red_hat_enterprise_linux_9:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

Vendor StatusVendor

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