CVE-2026-21685
Published: 07 January 2026
Summary
CVE-2026-21685 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 27.2th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog; a public proof-of-concept is referenced.
The strongest mitigations our analysis identified are NIST 800-53 SI-10 (Information Input Validation) and SI-2 (Flaw Remediation).
Deeper analysis
CVE-2026-21685 is an Undefined Behavior vulnerability in the `CIccTagLut16::Read()` function within the iccDEV library, a set of libraries and tools for interacting with, manipulating, and applying International Color Consortium (ICC) color management profiles. This issue affects iccDEV versions prior to 2.3.1.2 and impacts any users or applications that process ICC color profiles using the library. The vulnerability is associated with CWE-20 (Improper Input Validation) and CWE-758 (Reliance on Undefined, Unspecified, or Implementation-Defined Behavior), earning 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).
Attackers can exploit this vulnerability over the network with low complexity and no required privileges, but it necessitates user interaction, such as tricking a victim into opening or processing a specially crafted ICC color profile. Successful exploitation results in low integrity impact (e.g., potential data modification) and high availability impact (e.g., application crashes or denial of service), with no confidentiality impact and unchanged scope.
The official mitigation is to upgrade to iccDEV version 2.3.1.2, which includes a patch for the vulnerability. No workarounds are available. Relevant advisories and fixes are detailed in the GitHub security advisory (GHSA-c3xr-6687-5c8p), issue tracker (#213), and pull request (#223) from the InternationalColorConsortium/iccDEV repository.
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2026-1391
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 Undefined Behavior in `CIccTagLut16::Read()`. This vulnerability affects users of the iccDEV…
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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?
Vulnerability in ICC profile parser enables crafted malicious file delivery requiring user execution (T1204.002) to trigger application crash/DoS via exploitation (T1499.004).
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI
Directly requires validation of ICC profile inputs to CIccTagLut16::Read() to eliminate the improper input validation that triggers undefined behavior.
Mandates prompt application of the vendor patch (v2.3.1.2) that removes the undefined behavior in the Read() function.
Enables integrity verification of the iccDEV library and processed profiles to detect tampering or corruption that could trigger the flaw.