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Attack ChainAIDerived

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

  1. Access
    Deliver crafted XMC cursor file to victim
  2. Exploit
    Victim opens file or triggers thumbnail generation in GIMP
  3. Execution
    32-bit width*height overflow undersizes pixel buffer
  4. Impact
    GEGL out-of-bounds heap read crashes or corrupts GIMP process

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

Requires a victim to open, or have a file manager auto-generate a thumbnail for, an attacker-supplied crafted X cursor (XMC) file whose width and height are chosen to overflow 32-bit signed multiplication in GIMP's XMC thumbnail loader. Exploitation is strictly local (AV:L) and depends on user interaction (UI:R) - the attacker cannot trigger it remotely or without the victim handling the malicious file. Impact is limited to crashing GIMP or corrupting its process memory (availability only); there is no authentication bypass and no network-facing exposure, which substantially limits realistic risk.

Impact

This is a moderate-severity, low-priority issue in practice. The CVSS 3.1 vector (AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H, base 5.5) describes a local, user-interaction-dependent flaw whose only confirmed impact is availability (A:H) - i.e. a crash - with explicitly no confidentiality (C:N) or integrity (I:N) impact. No EPSS score, CISA KEV listing, or public proof-of-concept was provided in the input, so there is no evidence of exploitation probability or active abuse; exploitation status is best characterized as no public exploit identified at time of analysis. The signals are internally consistent except for one tension: the metadata carries an 'Information Disclosure' tag and the description notes an out-of-bounds heap READ (CWE-125), which could in theory leak adjacent heap memory, yet the authoritative CVSS vector sets C:N - so the practical outcome is a crash/memory corruption rather than confirmed data exfiltration. Treat the 'Information Disclosure' framing as unverified against the scored vector. Overall this is a 'high-attention-looking CWE, low-real-risk' case: a classic integer-overflow→OOB-read in a desktop image tool's thumbnail path, requiring a victim to handle an attacker-crafted file locally, with no privilege escalation and no network vector.

Exploit ScenarioDerived

An attacker crafts a malicious X cursor (XMC) file with dimensions chosen so that width * height overflows 32-bit signed arithmetic, then delivers it to a victim (e.g., via download, email attachment, or a shared folder). When the victim opens the file in GIMP or a file manager auto-generates a thumbnail, GIMP under-allocates the pixel buffer and performs an out-of-bounds heap read, crashing the application or corrupting process memory. No public exploit code was identified in the provided data, and exploitation yields only a crash/denial of service rather than code execution or data theft.

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 07, 2026

Out-of-bounds heap reads in GIMP's XMC (X cursor) thumbnail loader can crash the application or corrupt process memory when a victim opens a crafted XMC file, or when thumbnail generation is triggered for one by a file manager. The root cause is an integer overflow: the loader sizes a pixel buffer using width * height computed in 32-bit signed arithmetic, so an oversized product wraps to a small allocation that a later GEGL buffer read then indexes using the unwrapped dimensions. Exploitation is strictly local and user-interaction dependent (CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H, 5.5), with no network attack surface and no confidentiality or integrity impact; no public exploit code and no confirmed active exploitation were identified at time of analysis, and Red Hat tracks the issue across RHEL 6 through 10.

RemediationAI

No vendor-released patch version is identified in the available intelligence at time of analysis, so the primary action is to monitor Red Hat's advisory at https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-106061 and the associated Bugzilla at https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2546640, and apply the updated gimp package as soon as it is published for your RHEL 6/7/8/9/10 stream (note that RHEL 6 and 7 are in extended-lifecycle maintenance, where fixes may be limited). Until then, targeted compensating controls are preferable to generic hardening: remove or rename the XMC thumbnail loader plug-in from GIMP's plug-ins directory so the vulnerable code path cannot be reached - the trade-off being that X cursor previews stop working; disable thumbnailers or preview generation for .xmc files in the desktop file manager (for example by editing the relevant thumbnailer .thumbnailer definition) so previews are never auto-generated, which affects only preview convenience; and treat untrusted .xmc files as hostile by not opening them in GIMP and by running GIMP under a sandbox or low-privilege account, accepting reduced access to local files as the cost. Because exploitation requires user interaction and is local-only with availability-only impact, these controls materially reduce exposure without disrupting core image editing workflows.

Affects your stack

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Checking this CVE against your own stacks and servers is part of the Basic plan and up.

Technical ContextAI · show details

GIMP's XMC loader parses X cursor files and, as part of thumbnail generation, allocates a pixel buffer whose size is derived from the image's declared width and height. Because that multiplication is performed in 32-bit signed arithmetic, a crafted file with dimensions whose product exceeds INT_MAX wraps to a small or negative value, so the allocation is smaller than the true image extent while the subsequent GEGL buffer read still uses the unwrapped dimensions. The result is a heap out-of-bounds read (CWE-125) downstream of an integer overflow in the size calculation (CWE-190), matching the CWE-125 root-cause class flagged for this CVE and the 'Buffer Overflow'/'Information Disclosure' tags in the intelligence feed. The relevant trigger surface is the thumbnail/preview path rather than normal image editing, meaning a desktop file manager that delegates XMC previews to GIMP can invoke the vulnerable code without an explicit 'open' action. Red Hat's CPE data covers the product through the RHEL 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 platform entries, indicating GIMP is carried as a distribution package rather than as a standalone upstream build in this advisory.

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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 handling gives AV:L; no auth needed (PR:N) but victim must open/thumbnail the file (UI:R); impact is a crash, so A:H with C:N/I:N.

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:H/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 GIMP’s X cursor (XMC) thumbnail loader. When GIMP generates a thumbnail for a crafted XMC file, it allocates a pixel buffer using a width * height size computed in 32-bit signed arithmetic. If that product overflows, the allocation is smaller than the true image extent. A subsequent GEGL buffer read uses the unwrapped dimensions and performs an out-of-bounds read on the heap (CWE-125), after integer overflow in the size calculation (CWE-190). This can crash GIMP or corrupt process memory.

Threat Intelligence Overview

EPSS Score
0.1%
Top 99% exploitable
Prevalence
Medium
GIMP is a popular desktop image editor, common but not on every host
Data Quality
6 sources
Confidence: High
EUVD NVD CVE.org EPSS Vulnrichment Vendor VulDB

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.

Information disclosure occurs when an application unintentionally exposes sensitive data that aids attackers in reconnaissance or directly compromises security.

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_9:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

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Vendor StatusVendor

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