Cyber Resilience

CVE-2026-27622

Memory Safety in Openexr ≤ 3.2.6

Public PoCMemory Safety
Published
03 March 2026
Modified
15 July 2026
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v4 8.4
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:A/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X
EPSS Score 0.0020 10th percentile
Risk Priority 55 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2026-27622 is a high-severity Out-of-bounds Write (CWE-787) vulnerability in Openexr Openexr. Its CVSS base score is 8.4 (High).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploitation for Privilege Escalation (T1068); ranked at the 10th 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 map to SA-11 (Developer Testing and Evaluation) and SA-15 (Development Process, Standards, and Tools) — 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-2026-27622 is a buffer overflow vulnerability (CWE-787) in the OpenEXR library, the reference implementation and specification for the EXR image file format widely used in the motion picture industry. The issue occurs in the CompositeDeepScanLine::readPixels function, where per-pixel totals accumulated in a vector<unsigned int> total_sizes wrap around modulo 2^32 due to attacker-controlled large counts across many parts. This leads to an underestimated overall_sample_count, causing samples[channel].resize to allocate an undersized buffer, which is later overrun during decode pointer setup and write operations in generic_unpack_deep_pointers.

The vulnerability has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 7.8 (AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H), indicating local access with low attack complexity, no privileges required, and user interaction needed. A local attacker can exploit it by supplying a malformed EXR file that tricks a user into processing it via an application using vulnerable OpenEXR versions, potentially achieving arbitrary code execution with high impacts on confidentiality, integrity, and availability through the buffer overrun.

The GitHub Security Advisory (GHSA-cr4v-6jm6-4963) confirms the vulnerability and states it is fixed in OpenEXR versions v3.2.6, v3.3.8, and v3.4.6. Security practitioners should update affected OpenEXR deployments to these patched releases and validate EXR file inputs where possible to mitigate risks from untrusted sources.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

OpenEXR provides the specification and reference implementation of the EXR file format, an image storage format for the motion picture industry. In CompositeDeepScanLine::readPixels, per-pixel totals are accumulated in vector<unsigned int> total_sizes for attacker-controlled large counts across many parts, total_sizes[ptr] wraps…

more

modulo 2^32. overall_sample_count is then derived from wrapped totals and used in samples[channel].resize(overall_sample_count). Decode pointer setup/consumption proceeds with true sample counts, and write operations in core unpack (generic_unpack_deep_pointers) overrun the undersized composite sample buffer. This vulnerability is fixed in v3.2.6, v3.3.8, and v3.4.6.

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-2023-5841Same product: Openexr Openexr
CVE-2023-39125Shared CWE-190, CWE-787
CVE-2024-20016Shared CWE-190, CWE-787
CVE-2023-33032Shared CWE-190, CWE-787
CVE-2024-32913Shared CWE-190, CWE-787
CVE-2023-47212Shared CWE-190, CWE-787
CVE-2024-47537Shared CWE-190, CWE-787
CVE-2023-22666Shared CWE-190, CWE-787
CVE-2023-45681Shared CWE-190, CWE-787
CVE-2022-23943Shared CWE-190, CWE-787

Affected Assets

openexr
openexr
≤ 3.2.6 · 3.3.0 — 3.3.8 · 3.4.0 — 3.4.6

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)

Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)

Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)
  • V5.2.6

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

Developer testing and evaluation (including fuzzing and bounds checks) finds out-of-bounds write flaws before deployment.

Requiring documented secure-development standards and tools can mandate bounds-checked coding practices that avoid the weakness.

Secure engineering principles require use of safe arithmetic constructs or language features that structurally eliminate integer overflow during calculation.

Input validation can structurally reject or sanitize data that would otherwise trigger an out-of-bounds write.

Memory-protection mechanisms limit the exploitability and blast radius of a successful out-of-bounds write.

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-development practices (static analysis, bounds checking, code review) are the primary means of preventing out-of-bounds writes.

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

Security testing in development and acceptance can detect and prevent out-of-bounds write defects.

prevents

Secure development life cycle mandates practices that prevent out-of-bounds writes.

prevents

Application security requirements can specify bounds-checking and safe memory handling.

prevents

Secure architecture and engineering principles reduce the likelihood of buffer overflows.

prevents

Secure coding directly addresses out-of-bounds writes through language choice and coding standards.

prevents

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

References