Cyber Resilience

CVE-2026-42169

Published
04 August 2026
Modified
06 August 2026
CVSS Score v3.1 7.3
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS Score 0.0013 3th percentile
Risk Priority 51 floored blend · peak EPSS

CVSS and EPSS are reproduced from their sources (NVD, FIRST EPSS). Risk Priority is our own derived reading, not an NVD score.

Summary

CVE-2026-42169 is a high-severity Incorrect Calculation of Buffer Size (CWE-131) vulnerability. Its CVSS base score is 7.3 (High).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploitation for Privilege Escalation (T1068); ranked at the 3th 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.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

A heap-buffer-overflow vulnerability exists in the APNG (Animated PNG) file loader of GIMP. This flaw occurs when the `fcTL` width exceeds the `IHDR` width, leading to pixel data being written past the end of a heap allocation. Additionally, a heap-based…

more

buffer overflow exists in the DDS plug-in due to a BPP mismatch in the `load_layer()` function. Both vulnerabilities can be triggered by opening a specially crafted image file, potentially leading to code execution.

CWE(s)
CWE-131

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.
attack.mitre.org →
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.
attack.mitre.org →
T1203 Exploitation for Client Execution Execution
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in client applications to execute code.
attack.mitre.org →
T1210 Exploitation of Remote Services Lateral Movement
Adversaries may exploit remote services to gain unauthorized access to internal systems once inside of a network.
attack.mitre.org →
T1212 Exploitation for Credential Access Credential Access
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in an attempt to collect credentials.
attack.mitre.org →
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2026-0280Shared CWE-131
CVE-2026-43302Shared CWE-131
CVE-2024-39808Shared CWE-131
CVE-2023-1175Shared CWE-131
CVE-2025-46393Shared CWE-131
CVE-2026-22791Shared CWE-131
CVE-2024-43843Shared CWE-131
CVE-2024-26721Shared CWE-131
CVE-2026-2738Shared CWE-131
CVE-2025-52955Shared CWE-131

Affected Assets

Mitigating Controls

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

SA-11 Developer Testing and Evaluation good match

Developer security testing and code review can discover incorrect buffer-size computations before deployment.

SA-8 Security and Privacy Engineering Principles partial match

Secure engineering principles directly require correct buffer-size arithmetic and bounds-checked allocation.

SI-10 Information Input Validation partial match

Input validation can enforce that supplied lengths or counts used in size calculations are within safe bounds.

SI-16 Memory Protection partial match

Memory-protection mechanisms limit the exploitability of an overflow that results from an incorrect size calculation.

SI-2 Flaw Remediation partial match

Flaw-remediation processes that include vulnerability scanning or static analysis will surface buffer-size errors.

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 prevent buffer-size miscalculations via coding standards, reviews, and testing, while fixing this single weakness only partially fulfills the broader control.

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.

A.8.28 Secure coding mostly match
degrades

Secure coding standards directly require correct buffer-size calculations.

A.8.29 Security testing in development and acceptance mostly match
finds

Security testing can detect buffer-size errors before release.

A.8.25 Secure development life cycle partial match
prevents

Secure development lifecycle mandates size-checking practices that reduce buffer-size miscalculations.

A.8.26 Application security requirements partial match
prevents

Application security requirements can specify buffer-size validation rules.

A.8.27 Secure system architecture and engineering principles partial match
prevents

Secure architecture principles include safe memory-allocation guidelines.

References