CVE-2026-21681
Published: 07 January 2026
Summary
CVE-2026-21681 is a high-severity Improper Input Validation (CWE-20) vulnerability in Color Iccdev. Its CVSS base score is 7.1 (High).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Malicious File (T1204.002); ranked at the 20.4th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
The strongest mitigations our analysis identified are NIST 800-53 SI-10 (Information Input Validation) and SI-2 (Flaw Remediation).
Deeper analysis
CVE-2026-21681 is an Undefined Behavior runtime error in the iccDEV library, a set of libraries and tools for interacting with, manipulating, and applying International Color Consortium (ICC) color management profiles. The vulnerability affects versions prior to 2.3.1.2 and impacts users of the iccDEV library who process ICC color profiles. It stems from CWE-20: Improper Input Validation, with a CVSS v3.1 base score of 7.1 (AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:H).
An unauthenticated remote attacker can exploit this vulnerability over the network with low complexity by tricking a user into processing a malicious ICC color profile, requiring user interaction such as opening a specially crafted file. Successful exploitation results in no confidentiality impact, low integrity impact, and high availability impact, potentially leading to application crashes or denial of service due to the undefined behavior.
The GitHub security advisory (GHSA-v4qq-v3c3-x62x) and associated pull request (#269) in the InternationalColorConsortium/iccDEV repository confirm that version 2.3.1.2 includes a patch to address the issue. No known workarounds are available.
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2026-1395
Vulnerability details
iccDEV provides a set of libraries and tools that allow for the interaction, manipulation, and application of International Color Consortium (ICC) color management profiles. Versions prior to 2.3.1.2 have a Undefined Behavior runtime error. This vulnerability affects users of the…
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iccDEV library who process ICC color profiles. Version 2.3.1.2 contains a patch. No known workarounds are available.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise TechniquesAI
Why these techniques?
Malicious ICC profile file triggers UB/crash (T1204.002 delivery + T1499.004 application exploitation for DoS).
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI
Directly requires validation of ICC profile inputs to reject malformed data that triggers undefined behavior before processing occurs.
Mandates timely application of the vendor patch in version 2.3.1.2 that eliminates the improper input validation flaw.
Requires integrity verification of the iccDEV library and processed profiles to ensure only patched, untampered code handles color data.