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Fencer Vulns
high 7.5

CVE-2019-20421 json

In Jp2Image::readMetadata() in jp2image.cpp in Exiv2 0.27.2, an input file can result in an infinite loop and hang, with high CPU consumpti…

published 2020-01-27 6 y ago modified 2026-06-17 4 mo ago also EUVD-2020-0077

cvss
7.5
version 3.1, NVD
cisa kev
Not listed
not in CISA's catalog
epss
4.3%
EPSS 4.3% chance of exploitation in 30 days, percentile 91%
public exploits
0
none known

Summary

In Jp2Image::readMetadata() in jp2image.cpp in Exiv2 0.27.2, an input file can result in an infinite loop and hang, with high CPU consumption. Remote attackers could leverage this vulnerability to cause a denial of service via a crafted file.

Patch / fix

  • exiv2 Debian 14, Debian 13, Debian 12 0.27.2-8

debian advisories DEBIAN-CVE-2019-20421

  • exiv2 Ubuntu 16.04 LTS 0.25-2.1ubuntu16.04.6
  • exiv2 Ubuntu 18.04 LTS 0.25-3.1ubuntu0.18.04.5

ubuntu advisories UBUNTU-CVE-2019-20421

Ubuntu security data © Canonical Ltd., from https://github.com/canonical/ubuntu-security-notices via OSV; changed: normalised to fixed package versions per release. CC BY-SA 4.0

  • exiv2 RHEL 8 0.27.2-5.el8
  • gegl RHEL 8 0.2.0-39.el8
  • libgexiv2 RHEL 8 0.10.8-4.el8
  • exiv2-libs RHEL 8 0.27.2-5.el8
  • gnome-color-manager RHEL 8 3.28.0-3.el8

red hat advisories RHSA-2020:1577

  • exiv2 SLES for SAP 12 SP5, SLES for SAP 12 SP4, SLES 12 SP5 +3 more 0.23-12.8.1

suse advisories SUSE-SU-2020:0860-1

  • gegl AlmaLinux 8 0.2.0-39.el8
  • libgexiv2 AlmaLinux 8 0.10.8-4.el8
  • gnome-color-manager AlmaLinux 8 3.28.0-3.el8

almalinux advisories ALSA-2020:1577

  • exiv2 Rocky Linux 8 0.27.2-5.el8
  • gegl Rocky Linux 8 0.2.0-39.el8
  • libgexiv2 Rocky Linux 8 0.10.8-4.el8
  • gnome-color-manager Rocky Linux 8 3.28.0-3.el8

rocky linux advisories RLSA-2020:1577

  • exiv2 Alpine 3.11 0.27.2-r3
  • exiv2 Alpine 3.24, Alpine 3.23, Alpine 3.22 +10 more 0.27.2-r6

alpine advisories ALPINE-CVE-2019-20421

Alpine secdb © Alpine Linux, from https://secdb.alpinelinux.org via OSV; changed: normalised to fixed package versions per release. CC BY-SA 4.0

  • exiv2 CBL-Mariner 2.0 0.27.5-1

azure linux advisories AZL-7205

Azure Linux vulnerability data, Copyright (c) Microsoft Corporation, from https://github.com/microsoft/AzureLinuxVulnerabilityData via OSV, under the MIT licence; changed: normalised to fixed package versions per release. MIT

Vendor advisories

What the vendors themselves say about their products: affected, fixed or not affected, and what to do.

red hat product security vex CVE-2019-20421 updated cvss 7.5

exiv2: infinite loop and hang in Jp2Image::readMetadata() in jp2image.cpp could lead to DoS

  • Red Hat CodeReady Linux Builder (v. 8) exiv2 0.27.2-5.el8, libgexiv2 0.10.8-4.el8, exiv2-libs 0.27.2-5.el8 Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 8) gegl 0.2.0-39.el8, exiv2 0.27.2-5.el8, libgexiv2 0.10.8-4.el8, exiv2-libs 0.27.2-5.el8, gnome-color-manager 3.28.0-3.el8
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2020:1577
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 exiv2, exiv2-libs Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 exiv2, exiv2-libs
    not affected: vulnerable code not present

Red Hat CSAF VEX © Red Hat, Inc., from https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/; changed: reduced to product statuses and remediations. CC BY 4.0 · csaf

Exploit prediction

4.30% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 91% of all scored CVEs (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-08).

Exploits and checks

  • github.com https://github.com/Exiv2/exiv2/issues/1011 referenced PoC, tagged "exploit" by a source, unverified

CVSS scores

assigned by version score vector
NVD 3.1 7.5 CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
NVD 2.0 7.8 AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:C

Classification

Weakness
  • CWE-835 Loop with Unreachable Exit Condition

References

Sources

Fencer Vulns keeps one entry per vulnerability: the CVE id wins, then GHSA, and records that alias each other are merged, except that two CVEs always keep separate entries. The same data is available as JSON.