Cyber Resilience

CVE-2026-22046

Memory Safety in Color Iccdev ≤ 2.3.1.2

Published
07 January 2026
Modified
14 January 2026
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 8.8
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS Score 0.0029 21th percentile
Risk Priority 63 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2026-22046 is a high-severity Improper Input Validation (CWE-20) vulnerability in Color Iccdev. Its CVSS base score is 8.8 (High).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploitation for Privilege Escalation (T1068); ranked at the 21th 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 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-2026-22046 is a heap-buffer-overflow vulnerability in the iccDEV library, a set of tools and libraries for interacting with, manipulating, and applying International Color Consortium (ICC) color management profiles. The flaw resides in the `CIccProfileXml::ParseBasic()` function at `IccXML/IccLibXML/IccProfileXml.cpp` and affects all versions prior to 2.3.1.2. It impacts any applications or users of the iccDEV library that process ICC color profiles, potentially leading to memory corruption during parsing.

Remote attackers can exploit this vulnerability by inducing a victim to process a specially crafted ICC color profile, as indicated by the CVSS v3.1 base score of 8.8 (AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H). No privileges are required, but user interaction is necessary, such as opening a malicious file in a supporting application. Successful exploitation could result in high confidentiality, integrity, and availability impacts, including arbitrary code execution, data disclosure, or system crashes. The issue maps to multiple CWEs, including CWE-787 (Out-of-bounds Write), CWE-843 (Access of Resource Using Incompatible Type), and others related to improper input validation.

Mitigation is available via an upgrade to iccDEV version 2.3.1.2, which includes a patch for the vulnerability. No workarounds are known. Relevant advisories and fixes are documented in the project's GitHub security advisory (GHSA-7v4q-mhr2-hj7r), issue tracker (#448), and pull request (#451). Security practitioners should scan dependencies for vulnerable iccDEV versions and advise clients handling ICC profiles to update promptly.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

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 heap-buffer-overflow vulnerability in `CIccProfileXml::ParseBasic()` at `IccXML/IccLibXML/IccProfileXml.cpp`. This vulnerability affects users…

more

of the 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 Techniques

T1068 Exploitation for Privilege Escalation Privilege Escalation
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in an attempt to elevate privileges.
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.
T1203 Exploitation for Client Execution Execution
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in client applications to execute code.
T1210 Exploitation of Remote Services Lateral Movement
Adversaries may exploit remote services to gain unauthorized access to internal systems once inside of a network.
T1211 Exploitation for Stealth Stealth
Adversaries may exploit vulnerabilities to evade detection by hiding activity, suppressing logging, or operating within trusted or unmonitored components.
T1212 Exploitation for Credential Access Credential Access
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in an attempt to collect credentials.
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2026-22047Same product: Color Iccdev
CVE-2026-21679Same product: Color Iccdev
CVE-2026-21501Same product: Color Iccdev
CVE-2026-22861Same product: Color Iccdev
CVE-2026-22255Same product: Color Iccdev
CVE-2026-21678Same product: Color Iccdev
CVE-2026-21692Same product: Color Iccdev
CVE-2026-21505Same product: Color Iccdev
CVE-2026-21683Same product: Color Iccdev
CVE-2026-21685Same product: Color Iccdev

Affected Assets

color
iccdev
≤ 2.3.1.2

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)

Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)
  • 6 hardening rules · 3 OS baselines
Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)
  • V3.5.5
  • V4.2.1
  • V4.2.2
  • V1.5.2

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

Developer testing and evaluation can discover missing input validation through analysis or test cases.

SI-10 directly requires validity checks on information inputs, structurally preventing improper or missing validation.

Requiring documented development standards and tools can embed input-validation practices into the engineering process.

Engineering principles can require use of type-safe languages, static typing, and runtime type checks that structurally avoid allocating one type and accessing another.

Memory-protection controls limit the blast radius when a type-confusion access occurs but do not stop the flaw itself.

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 mostly match
prevents

Secure SDLC practices directly require and enforce input validation during development.

ID.RA-01 partial match
prevents

Vulnerability scanning and recording can discover out-of-bounds write flaws so they can be remediated.

PR.PS-02 partial match
prevents

Patching or replacing vulnerable software directly eliminates known instances of this coding weakness.

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.

finds

Testing against a defined set of requirements and using code review plus vulnerability scanning forces validation of inputs and handling of unanticipated conditions, reducing the chance that malformed data will be accepted.

prevents

Secure-coding guidelines and mandatory security testing (including code scans) compel developers to validate and sanitize inputs at design and implementation time, lowering the incidence of malformed or malicious data reaching downstream components.

prevents

Mandating input controls that include integrity checks and input validation ensures that untrusted data is examined before use, blocking the root cause of many injection and malformed-data weaknesses.

prevents

Security-by-design principles explicitly call for data validation and sanitization at every layer, reducing the chance that malformed or malicious input will be processed without scrutiny.

prevents

Requiring language-specific secure coding standards, peer review, SAST and documented mitigation of common programming errors forces validation of all inputs before they are trusted.

prevents

Change management can enforce review gates that catch unsafe memory operations before deployment.

Hardening callouts derived

Configuration rules from DISA STIG baselines that bear on weaknesses of the type cited by this CVE. Each rule is shown with the relationship its mapping actually records, against the CWE it was authored against. Derived via CVE→CWE over `controls_xwalks` (authoritative rows only; rows rated `none` are excluded).

RHEL 8 (1 rule)
  • V-230265 RHEL 8 must prevent the installation of software, patches, service packs, device drivers, or operating system components of local packages without verification they have been digitally signed using a certificate that is issued by a Certificate Authority (CA) that is recognized and approved by the organization. prevents CWE-20

References