Cyber Resilience

CVE-2026-20889

Memory Safety in Libraw 0.22.0

Public PoCMemory Safety
Published
07 April 2026
Modified
15 July 2026
CVSS Score v3.1 9.8
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS Score 0.0080 55th percentile
Risk Priority 73 floored blend · peak EPSS

CVSS and EPSS are reproduced from their sources (NVD, FIRST EPSS). Risk Priority is our own derived reading, not an NVD score.

Summary

CVE-2026-20889 is a critical-severity Integer Overflow or Wraparound (CWE-190) vulnerability in Libraw Libraw. Its CVSS base score is 9.8 (Critical).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploitation for Privilege Escalation (T1068); ranked in the top 45% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog; a public proof-of-concept is referenced.

The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to SA-11 (Developer Testing and Evaluation) and SI-10 (Information Input Validation) — see the control section below for these in your framework.

Deeper analysis AI-assisted summary

Synthesised by an AI model from the NVD description and linked references — a reading aid, not an authoritative source.

CVE-2026-20889 is a heap-based buffer overflow vulnerability in the x3f_thumb_loader functionality of LibRaw at commit d20315b, published on 2026-04-07T15:17:35.300. The flaw, classified under CWE-190, can be triggered by processing a specially crafted malicious file, leading to a heap buffer overflow. It has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 9.8 (AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H), indicating critical severity.

A remote attacker requires no privileges or user interaction to exploit this vulnerability by providing a malicious file to a LibRaw-based application. Successful exploitation can result in high impacts to confidentiality, integrity, and availability, potentially allowing arbitrary code execution or denial of service on the affected system.

The primary advisories are documented in the Talos Intelligence reports at https://talosintelligence.com/vulnerability_reports/TALOS-2026-2358 and https://www.talosintelligence.com/vulnerability_reports/TALOS-2026-2358.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

A heap-based buffer overflow vulnerability exists in the x3f_thumb_loader functionality of LibRaw Commit d20315b. A specially crafted malicious file can lead to a heap buffer overflow. An attacker can provide a malicious file to trigger this vulnerability.

CWE(s)
CWE-190CWE-120

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1068 Exploitation for Privilege Escalation Privilege Escalation
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in an attempt to elevate privileges.
attack.mitre.org →
T1190 Exploit Public-Facing Application Initial Access
Adversaries may attempt to exploit a weakness in an Internet-facing host or system to initially access a network.
attack.mitre.org →
T1203 Exploitation for Client Execution Execution
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in client applications to execute code.
attack.mitre.org →
T1210 Exploitation of Remote Services Lateral Movement
Adversaries may exploit remote services to gain unauthorized access to internal systems once inside of a network.
attack.mitre.org →
T1212 Exploitation for Credential Access Credential Access
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in an attempt to collect credentials.
attack.mitre.org →
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2026-24660Same product: Libraw Libraw
CVE-2026-20911Same product: Libraw Libraw
CVE-2026-24450Same product: Libraw Libraw
CVE-2026-20884Same product: Libraw Libraw
CVE-2025-43961Same product: Libraw Libraw
CVE-2025-43964Same product: Libraw Libraw
CVE-2025-43963Same product: Libraw Libraw
CVE-2025-43962Same product: Libraw Libraw
CVE-2026-5342Same product: Libraw Libraw
CVE-2026-21413Same product: Libraw Libraw

Affected Assets

libraw
libraw
0.22.0

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)

—

Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

—

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)

—

Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)
  • V5.2.1
  • V5.2.6

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

SA-11 Developer Testing and Evaluation good match

Developer testing and evaluation (static analysis, fuzzing, unit tests) directly finds integer overflow defects before deployment.

SI-10 Information Input Validation good match

Input validation directly enforces size checks before buffer copies.

SA-8 Security and Privacy Engineering Principles partial match

Secure engineering principles require use of safe arithmetic constructs or language features that structurally eliminate integer overflow during calculation.

SI-16 Memory Protection partial match

Memory protection limits the impact of an overflow once it occurs.

Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

ID.RA-01 partial match
prevents

Vulnerability identification processes such as code review or scanning detect classic buffer overflows before exploitation.

PR.PS-02 partial match
prevents

Routine patching replaces vulnerable code containing unchecked buffer copies with corrected versions.

PR.PS-06 partial match
prevents

Secure SDLC practices directly require use of safe arithmetic, bounds checks, and testing that prevent integer overflows.

Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

A.8.25 Secure development life cycle partial match
prevents

Secure SDLC mandates input validation and arithmetic checks that prevent integer overflows.

A.8.26 Application security requirements partial match
degrades

Application security requirements include bounds checking and safe arithmetic to avoid overflow conditions.

A.8.27 Secure system architecture and engineering principles partial match
degrades

Secure architecture principles require defensive coding patterns that mitigate integer wraparound risks.

A.8.28 Secure coding partial match
prevents

Secure coding standards explicitly forbid unsafe integer operations and mandate overflow-safe constructs.

A.8.29 Security testing in development and acceptance partial match
finds

Security testing in development can detect integer overflows before release.

References