Cyber Resilience

CVE-2026-21489

Memory Safety in Color Iccdev ≤ 2.3.1.2

Memory Safety
Published
06 January 2026
Modified
14 January 2026
Patch / advisory
View advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 6.1
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:H
EPSS Score 0.0012 2th percentile
Risk Priority 44 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2026-21489 is a medium-severity Out-of-bounds Read (CWE-125) vulnerability in Color Iccdev. Its CVSS base score is 6.1 (Medium).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploitation for Privilege Escalation (T1068); ranked at the 2th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to SA-11 (Developer Testing and Evaluation) and SA-8 (Security and Privacy Engineering Principles) — 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-2026-21489 affects iccDEV, a set of libraries and tools for working with ICC color management profiles. Versions 2.3.1.1 and earlier contain out-of-bounds read (CWE-125) and integer underflow (wrap or wraparound, CWE-191) vulnerabilities in the CIccCalculatorFunc::SequenceNeedTempReset function. The issue was disclosed on January 6, 2026, with a CVSS v3.1 base score of 6.1 (AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:H) and resolved in version 2.3.1.2.

An attacker with local access can exploit this vulnerability with low complexity and no privileges required, but it necessitates user interaction, such as opening a malicious ICC profile. Successful exploitation may result in limited disclosure of sensitive information alongside high-impact availability disruption, such as application crashes or denial of service, due to the out-of-bounds read and integer underflow.

The official GitHub security advisory (GHSA-ph89-6q5h-wfw5) and fixing commit (cfabfe52c9c7eb0481b62c8aad56580bb11efdad) recommend upgrading to iccDEV version 2.3.1.2, which addresses the flaws in the affected function. No additional workarounds are specified in the provided references.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

iccDEV provides a set of libraries and tools for working with ICC color management profiles. Versions 2.3.1.1 and below have Out-of-bounds Read and Integer Underflow (Wrap or Wraparound) vulnerabilities in its CIccCalculatorFunc::SequenceNeedTempReset function. This issue is fixed in version 2.3.1.2.

CWE(s)
CWE-125CWE-191

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 →
T1211 Exploitation for Stealth Stealth
Adversaries may exploit vulnerabilities to evade detection by hiding activity, suppressing logging, or operating within trusted or unmonitored components.
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-2026-34556Same product: Color Iccdev
CVE-2026-34554Same product: Color Iccdev
CVE-2026-30984Same product: Color Iccdev
CVE-2026-21488Same product: Color Iccdev
CVE-2026-21494Same product: Color Iccdev
CVE-2026-21491Same product: Color Iccdev
CVE-2026-21490Same product: Color Iccdev
CVE-2026-30982Same product: Color Iccdev
CVE-2026-24852Same product: Color Iccdev
CVE-2026-31797Same product: Color Iccdev

Affected Assets

color
iccdev
≤ 2.3.1.2

Mitigating Controls

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

SA-11 Developer Testing and Evaluation good match

Developer testing and evaluation directly finds out-of-bounds read flaws through static analysis, fuzzing, and dynamic bounds checks.

SA-8 Security and Privacy Engineering Principles partial match

Secure engineering principles require bounds checking and memory-safe constructs that stop out-of-bounds reads from being introduced.

SC-39 Process Isolation partial match

Process isolation confines the effects of an out-of-bounds read to the compromised process.

SI-10 Information Input Validation partial match

Input validation rejects malformed indices or lengths that would otherwise cause reads outside buffer bounds.

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.

PR.PS-06 full match
prevents

Secure SDLC practices directly prevent integer underflow defects via input validation, bounds checking, and static analysis.

ID.RA-01 partial match
prevents

Vulnerability scanning and recording can discover instances of out-of-bounds reads after code is deployed.

PR.PS-02 partial match
prevents

Routine patching replaces vulnerable code containing out-of-bounds read flaws.

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.8.29 Security testing in development and acceptance mostly match
finds

Security testing in development and acceptance includes fuzzing and static analysis that detect out-of-bounds read defects before release.

A.8.15 Logging partial match
finds

Logging can record evidence of an out-of-bounds read but does not prevent the weakness itself.

A.8.25 Secure development life cycle partial match
prevents

Secure development life cycle mandates input validation and bounds checking that directly prevent out-of-bounds reads.

A.8.26 Application security requirements partial match
prevents

Application security requirements include explicit bounds and memory-safety specifications that mitigate buffer over-reads.

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

Secure system architecture and engineering principles require memory-safe design patterns and runtime protections against out-of-bounds access.

A.8.28 Secure coding partial match
prevents

Secure coding standards explicitly forbid unsafe pointer arithmetic and mandate bounds-checked reads, eliminating CWE-125.

References