CVE-2026-22801 | LIBPNG has an integer truncation causing heap buffer over-read in png_image_write_*

LIBPNG is a reference library for use in applications that read, create, and manipulate PNG (Portable Network Graphics) raster image files. From 1.6.26 to 1.6.53, there is an integer truncation in the libpng simplified write API functions png_write_image_16bit and png_write_image_8bit causes heap buffer over-read when the caller provides a negative row stride (for bottom-up image layouts) or a stride exceeding 65535 bytes. The bug was introduced in libpng 1.6.26 (October 2016) by casts added to silence compiler warnings on 16-bit systems. This vulnerability is fixed in 1.6.54.

Published: 2026-01-12 Last update: 2026-01-21 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Analyzed，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2026-22801 is rated Low Risk (27.7/100): CVSS Medium severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.01%). Monitor for updates and reassess as exploit intelligence or EPSS changes.

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

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2026-22801

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 2026-01-13 — 0.01% —

Full EPSS history (1 record total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2026-22801

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
6.8 3.1 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/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: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: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.
 2.5 4.2 [email protected]
7.8 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/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: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:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
 1.8 5.9 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2026-22801

OS Trackers for CVE-2026-22801

vendor priority summary link
alpine — CVE-2026-22801: 1 source package rows (libpng); 28 state rows across 6 repos (3.19-main, 3.20-main, 3.21-main, 3.22-main, 3.23-main, edge-main); fixed 5, open 23. https://security.alpinelinux.org/vuln/CVE-2026-22801
debian not yet assigned CVE-2026-22801 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 1 source packages (libpng1.6), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 5. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2026-22801
redhat medium — https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-22801
suse medium CVE-2026-22801 severity moderate: SUSE including 323 source package names (1.1.0-1.11:libpng16-16-1.6.40-150600.3.6.1, 2.0.4-5.8.242:libpng16-16-1.6.34-150000.3.19.1, …), 758 product×package rows across 234 product lines (Container private-registry/harbor-portal, Container suse/manager/5.0/x86_64/server, … (234 product lines)): Fixed 439, Known Affected 231, Known Not Affected 81, First Fixed 7. https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-22801/
ubuntu medium CVE-2026-22801 medium priority: Ubuntu including 5 source packages (chromium-browser, firefox, libpng, libpng1.6, thunderbird), 30 status rows across 9 suites (bionic, focal, jammy, noble, plucky, questing, trusty, upstream, xenial): not-affected 14, released 8, DNE 7, ignored 1. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2026-22801

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2026-22801

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
libpng libpng >= 1.6.26, < 1.6.54 cpe:2.3:a:libpng:libpng:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2026-22801

cvelogic Threat Intelligence