CVE-2020-26208 | Heap-buffer-overflow in jhead

Exp

JHEAD is a simple command line tool for displaying and some manipulation of EXIF header data embedded in Jpeg images from digital cameras. In affected versions there is a heap-buffer-overflow on jhead-3.04/jpgfile.c:285 ReadJpegSections. Crafted jpeg images can be provided to the user resulting in a program crash or potentially incorrect exif information retrieval. Users are advised to upgrade. There is no known workaround for this issue.

Published: 2022-02-02 Last update: 2025-05-05 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2020-26208 is rated Exploit Available (56.1/100): CVSS Medium severity, with medium exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.34%). 2 public exploit reference(s) are indexed (Exploit-DB). Public exploits are available—assess exposure, apply mitigations, and prioritize patching.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

Public exploit references (Exploit-DB) for CVE-2020-26208

EDB-ID Source Kind Published Link
— nvd_ref exploit_tag Exploit-DB ↗
— nvd_ref exploit_tag Exploit-DB ↗

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2020-26208

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2026-05-27 0.36% 0.34% -0.03%
2 2026-05-26 0.23% 0.36% +0.13%
3 2026-05-25 — 0.23% —

Full EPSS history (12 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2020-26208

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
5.3 3.1 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:L Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:L)
They already need access on the box, or another person has to do something wrong; it’s not a remote drive-by.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:L)
A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:L)
Some sensitive info could get out, but not a total data dump.
Integrity (I:L)
Attackers could change some data, but it’s limited—not everything goes.
Availability (A:L)
Might cause slowdowns, glitches, or partial disruption—not a full brick.
 1.8 3.4 [email protected]
6.1 3.1 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:L)
They already need access on the box, or another person has to do something wrong; it’s not a remote drive-by.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:N)
No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough.
User interaction (UI:R)
A real person has to do something—click, install, enable—otherwise it doesn’t land.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:L)
Some sensitive info could get out, but not a total data dump.
Integrity (I:N)
Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
 1.8 4.2 [email protected]
5.8 2.0 MEDIUM
AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:P/I:N/A:P Click to expand
Access vector (AV:N)
Can be exploited remotely over network reachability.
Access complexity (AC:M)
Exploitation needs some favorable conditions, but not exceptional ones.
Authentication (AU:N)
No authentication is required.
Confidentiality impact (C:P)
Partial confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:N)
No integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:P)
Partial availability impact.
 8.6 4.9 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2020-26208

OS Trackers for CVE-2020-26208

vendor priority summary link
debian unimportant CVE-2020-26208 unimportant priority: Debian including 1 source packages (jhead), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 5. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2020-26208
ubuntu low CVE-2020-26208 low priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (jhead), 9 status rows across 9 suites (bionic, focal, impish, jammy, kinetic, lunar, trusty, upstream, xenial): released 5, not-affected 4. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2020-26208

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2020-26208

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
jhead_project jhead < 3.04 cpe:2.3:a:jhead_project:jhead:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2020-26208

cvelogic Threat Intelligence