CVE-2025-26623 json
Use After Free in Exiv2
published 2025-02-18 20 mo ago modified 2026-07-07 4 mo ago also EUVD-2025-4463 , GHSA-38h4-fx85-qcx7 , PYSEC-2026-1353
- cvss
- 9.8
- version 3.1, NVD
- cisa kev
- Not listed
- not in CISA's catalog
- epss
- 0.9%
- EPSS 0.9% chance of exploitation in 30 days, percentile 60%
- public exploits
- 0
- none known
Summary
Exiv2 is a C++ library and a command-line utility to read, write, delete and modify Exif, IPTC, XMP and ICC image metadata. A heap buffer overflow was found in Exiv2 versions v0.28.0 to v0.28.4. Versions prior to v0.28.0, such as v0.27.7, are **not** affected. Exiv2 is a command-line utility and C++ library for reading, writing, deleting, and modifying the metadata of image files. The heap overflow is triggered when Exiv2 is used to write metadata into a crafted image file. An attacker could potentially exploit the vulnerability to gain code execution, if they can trick the victim into running Exiv2 on a crafted image file. Note that this bug is only triggered when writing the metadata, which is a less frequently used Exiv2 operation than reading the metadata. For example, to trigger the bug in the Exiv2 command-line application, you need to add an extra command-line argument such as `fixiso`. The bug is fixed in version v0.28.5. Users are advised to upgrade. There are no known workarounds for this vulnerability.
Patch / fix
- pypi exiv2 0.28.5
- exiv2 exiv2 0.28.5
- jim-easterbrook python-exiv2 0.17.5
- exiv2 Debian 14, Debian 13 0.28.4+dfsg-2
debian advisories DEBIAN-CVE-2025-26623
- exiv2 RHEL 10.0 0.28.3-3.el10_0.2
- exiv2-libs RHEL 10.0 0.28.3-3.el10_0.2
red hat advisories RHSA-2025:7457
- exiv2 SLES for SAP applications 16.0, SLES 16.0 0.28.8-160000.1.1
suse advisories SUSE-SU-2026:20923-1
- exiv2 openSUSE Leap 16.0 0.28.8-160000.1.1
- exiv2 openSUSE Tumbleweed 0.28.8-1.1
opensuse advisories openSUSE-SU-2026:20410-1openSUSE-SU-2026:10298-1
- exiv2 AlmaLinux 10 0.28.3-3.el10_0.2
- exiv2-libs AlmaLinux 10 0.28.3-3.el10_0.2
almalinux advisories ALSA-2025:7457
- exiv2 Rocky Linux 10 0.28.3-3.el10_0.2
rocky linux advisories RLSA-2025:7457
- exiv2 Alpine 3.24, Alpine 3.23, Alpine 3.22 0.28.5-r0
alpine advisories ALPINE-CVE-2025-26623
Alpine secdb © Alpine Linux, from https://secdb.alpinelinux.org via OSV; changed: normalised to fixed package versions per release. CC BY-SA 4.0
- github.com/jim-easterbrook/python-exiv2@4cc875e commit
- github.com/Exiv2/exiv2#3174 pull request
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-2025-26623 updated cvss 6.3
exiv2: Use After Free in Exiv2
-
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 exiv2, exiv2-libs Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 exiv2, exiv2-libs, compat-exiv2-023, compat-exiv2-026 Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 exiv2, exiv2-libs, compat-exiv2-026affected: no fix planned “Out of support scope”
-
Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 10) exiv2 0.28.3-3.el10_0.2, exiv2-libs 0.28.3-3.el10_0.2 Red Hat Enterprise Linux CodeReady Linux Builder (v. 10) exiv2-doc 0.28.3-3.el10_0.2, exiv2-devel 0.28.3-3.el10_0.2, exiv2-debuginfo 0.28.3-3.el10_0.2, exiv2-debugsource 0.28.3-3.el10_0.2, exiv2-libs-debuginfo 0.28.3-3.el10_0.2fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2025:7457
-
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 exiv2, exiv2-libsnot 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
CISA SSVC
- Exploitation
- Proof of concept is public
- Automatable
- yes
- Technical impact
- partial
- Assessed
- 20 mo ago
Exploit prediction
0.92% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 60% of all scored CVEs (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-08).
Exploits and checks
- github.com https://github.com/Exiv2/exiv2/issues/3168 referenced PoC, tagged "exploit" by a source, unverified
CVSS scores
| assigned by | version | score | vector |
|---|---|---|---|
| CNA | 4.0 | 5.3 | CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:P/VC:L/VI:L/VA:L/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N |
| CNA | 4.0 | 5.3 | CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:P/VC:L/VI:L/VA:L/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 |
| NVD | 3.1 | 9.8 | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H |
Affected packages
| ecosystem | package | affected | fixed in |
|---|---|---|---|
| pypi | exiv2 | >=0.28.0, <0.28.5 |
0.28.5 |
Affected products
- Exiv2 exiv2
Classification
- Weakness
-
- CWE-416 Use After Free
References
-
github.com
/Exiv2/exiv2/pull/3174
web
-
github.com
/jim-easterbrook/python-exiv2/commit/4cc875e392f9e0bc705fe03d929b9a382b78dae4
web
-
github.com
/Exiv2/exiv2/issues/3168
web, exploit, issue-tracking
-
github.com
/Exiv2/exiv2/security/advisories/GHSA-38h4-fx85-qcx7
web, vendor-advisory
-
nvd.nist.gov
/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-26623
advisory
-
github.com
/Exiv2/exiv2
package
-
pypi.org
/project/exiv2
package
-
github.com
/advisories/GHSA-38h4-fx85-qcx7
advisory
Sources
- CVE List CVE-2025-26623
- GitHub Advisory GHSA-38h4-fx85-qcx7
- NVD CVE-2025-26623
- OSV PYSEC-2026-1353
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.
CPEs and fixed versions use Anchore's correction of NVD's data: Added CPE configurations because not yet analyzed by NVD.