CVE-2026-22801
Memory Safety in Libpng 1.6.26 – 1.6.54
Raw vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:HSummary
CVE-2026-22801 is a medium-severity Out-of-bounds Read (CWE-125) vulnerability in Libpng Libpng. Its CVSS base score is 6.8 (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-2026-22801 is an integer truncation vulnerability (CWE-190) in the LIBPNG reference library for reading, creating, and manipulating PNG image files, leading to a heap buffer over-read (CWE-125). It affects versions 1.6.26 through 1.6.53 in the simplified write API functions png_write_image_16bit and png_write_image_8bit. The flaw triggers when callers provide a negative row stride for bottom-up image layouts or a stride exceeding 65535 bytes, and it was introduced in version 1.6.26 by casts added to silence compiler warnings on 16-bit systems. The vulnerability has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 6.8 (AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:H).
A local attacker can exploit this issue with low attack complexity, requiring no privileges or user interaction. Exploitation involves passing malformed stride values to the affected functions, resulting in a heap buffer over-read that causes high availability impact through application crashes or denial of service, alongside low confidentiality impact from potential limited memory disclosure.
The vulnerability is addressed in libpng version 1.6.54. Additional details on the issue and patch are available in the GitHub security advisory at https://github.com/pnggroup/libpng/security/advisories/GHSA-vgjq-8cw5-ggw8.
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2026-2416
Vulnerability Data
LIBPNG is a reference library for use in applications that read, create, and manipulate PNG (Portable Network Graphics) raster image files. From 1.6.26 to 1.6.53, there is an integer truncation in the libpng simplified write API functions png_write_image_16bit and png_write_image_8bit…
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causes heap buffer over-read when the caller provides a negative row stride (for bottom-up image layouts) or a stride exceeding 65535 bytes. The bug was introduced in libpng 1.6.26 (October 2016) by casts added to silence compiler warnings on 16-bit systems. This vulnerability is fixed in 1.6.54.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Control response
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V5.2.6
Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI
Developer testing and evaluation directly finds out-of-bounds read flaws through static analysis, fuzzing, and dynamic bounds checks.
Secure engineering principles require bounds checking and memory-safe constructs that stop out-of-bounds reads from being introduced.
Process isolation confines the effects of an out-of-bounds read to the compromised process.
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.
Secure-development practices such as bounds checking and memory-safe languages directly prevent out-of-bounds reads.
Vulnerability scanning and recording can discover instances of out-of-bounds reads after code is deployed.
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.
Security testing in development and acceptance includes fuzzing and static analysis that detect out-of-bounds read defects before release.
Logging can record evidence of an out-of-bounds read but does not prevent the weakness itself.
Secure development life cycle mandates input validation and bounds checking that directly prevent out-of-bounds reads.
Application security requirements include explicit bounds and memory-safety specifications that mitigate buffer over-reads.
Secure system architecture and engineering principles require memory-safe design patterns and runtime protections against out-of-bounds access.
Secure coding standards explicitly forbid unsafe pointer arithmetic and mandate bounds-checked reads, eliminating CWE-125.