CVE-2026-27631 | Exiv2: Uncaught exception - cannot create std::vector larger than max_size()

Exiv2 is a C++ library and a command-line utility to read, write, delete and modify Exif, IPTC, XMP and ICC image metadata. Prior to version 0.28.8, an uncaught exception was found in Exiv2. The vulnerability is in the preview component, which is only triggered when running Exiv2 with an extra command line argument, like -pp. Due to an integer overflow, the code attempts to create a huge std::vector, which causes Exiv2 to crash with an uncaught exception. This issue has been patched in version 0.28.8.

Published: 2026-03-02 Last update: 2026-03-05 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]

Conclusion & alert: CVE-2026-27631 is rated Low Risk (15.3/100): CVSS Low severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.04%). Mandatory action: Low composite risk—no urgent action required; patch on your normal maintenance cycle and revisit priority if CVSS or EPSS increases.

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-2026-27631

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 2026-03-03 0.04%

Full EPSS history (1 record total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2026-27631

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
2.7 4.0 LOW
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:L/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:U/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 Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Exploitation conditions are straightforward and stable.
Attack requirements (AT:N)
No additional preconditions are required beyond normal reachability.
Privileges required (PR:N)
No privileges are required.
User interaction (UI:N)
No user interaction is required.
Vulnerable system confidentiality impact (VC:N)
No confidentiality impact on the vulnerable system.
Vulnerable system integrity impact (VI:L)
Limited integrity impact on the vulnerable system.
Vulnerable system availability impact (VA:N)
No availability impact on the vulnerable system.
Subsequent system confidentiality impact (SC:N)
No confidentiality impact on subsequent systems.
Subsequent system integrity impact (SI:N)
No integrity impact on subsequent systems.
Subsequent system availability impact (SA:N)
No availability impact on subsequent systems.
Exploit maturity (threat) (E:U)
Unreported: no public PoC, no reported exploitation, and no known simplification tools.
Confidentiality requirement (CR:X)
Not defined: insufficient information; scoring treats this like High (worst case).
Integrity requirement (IR:X)
Not defined: insufficient information; scoring treats this like High (worst case).
Availability requirement (AR:X)
Not defined: insufficient information; scoring treats this like High (worst case).
Modified attack vector (MAV:X)
Not defined: scoring uses the Base Attack Vector (AV).
Modified attack complexity (MAC:X)
Not defined: scoring uses the Base Attack Complexity (AC).
Modified attack requirements (MAT:X)
Not defined: scoring uses the Base Attack Requirements (AT).
Modified privileges required (MPR:X)
Not defined: scoring uses the Base Privileges Required (PR).
Modified user interaction (MUI:X)
Not defined: scoring uses the Base User Interaction (UI).
Modified vulnerable system confidentiality impact (MVC:X)
Not defined: scoring uses the Base VC metric.
Modified vulnerable system integrity impact (MVI:X)
Not defined: scoring uses the Base VI metric.
Modified vulnerable system availability impact (MVA:X)
Not defined: scoring uses the Base VA metric.
Modified subsequent system confidentiality impact (MSC:X)
Not defined: scoring uses the Base SC metric.
Modified subsequent system integrity impact (MSI:X)
Not defined: scoring uses the Base SI metric.
Modified subsequent system availability impact (MSA:X)
Not defined: scoring uses the Base SA metric.
Safety (supplemental) (S:X)
Not evaluated.
Automatable (supplemental) (AU:X)
Not evaluated.
Recovery (supplemental) (R:X)
Not evaluated.
Value density (supplemental) (V:X)
Not evaluated.
Vulnerability response effort (supplemental) (RE:X)
Not evaluated.
Provider urgency (supplemental) (U:X)
Not evaluated.
[email protected]
5.3 3.1 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:N Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
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:N)
Doesn’t really leak secrets in a meaningful way.
Integrity (I:L)
Attackers could change some data, but it’s limited—not everything goes.
Availability (A:N)
Service keeps running; no real outage angle.
3.9 1.4 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2026-27631

OS Trackers for CVE-2026-27631

vendor priority summary link
alpine CVE-2026-27631: 1 source package rows (exiv2); 16 state rows across 2 repos (3.23-community, edge-community); fixed 0, open 16. https://security.alpinelinux.org/vuln/CVE-2026-27631
debian not yet assigned CVE-2026-27631 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 1 source packages (exiv2), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): open 3, resolved 2. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2026-27631
gentoo low CVE-2026-27631: 1 GLSA(s) (202603-01), 1 atom(s) (media-gfx/exiv2); latest impact low. https://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?quicksearch=CVE-2026-27631
redhat low https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-27631
suse medium CVE-2026-27631 severity moderate: SUSE including 16 source package names (cockpit-bridge-322-slfo.1.1_2.1, cockpit-kdump-322-slfo.1.1_2.1, …), 29 product×package rows across 13 product lines (Image SL-Micro-EC2, Image SLE-Micro, … (13 product lines)): Fixed 27, First Fixed 2. https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-27631/
ubuntu medium CVE-2026-27631 medium priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (exiv2), 7 status rows across 7 suites (bionic, focal, jammy, noble, questing, upstream, xenial): released 7. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2026-27631

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2026-27631

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
exiv2 exiv2 <= 0.28.8 cpe:2.3:a:exiv2:exiv2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2026-27631

cvelogic Threat Intelligence