High CVSS 7.8
CVE-2026-42170
NVD analysis in progress
A heap-based buffer overflow vulnerability exists in the GIMP DDS (DirectDraw Surface) file parser. When a crafted DDS file declares a D3D9 pixel format but sets a lower bits-per-pixel (bpp) value in the header, the loader allocates an undersized heap buffer. Subsequent pixel data consumption at the real format's stride causes a write past the heap buffer boundary, leading to heap metadata corruption and potential code execution.
What this means
- Exposure
- Exploitable with local access to the machine and without authentication — but only if a user opens booby-trapped content.
- Impact
- An attacker can read sensitive data, modify or destroy data and take the service offline.
- Likelihood
- Its EPSS score stays low: nothing points to imminent exploitation, which is no reason to leave it unpatched.
What to doFold into the next patch cycle.
Read automatically from the CVSS vector, the weakness type (CWE) and the EPSS score. The technical description above remains the one published by NIST.