CVE-2026-42144 | CImg Library: Integer overflow in PNM size check bypasses memory guard (_load_pnm)

CImg Library is a C++ library for image processing. Prior to commit 4ca26bc, there is an integer overflow vulnerability in the W*H*D size computation inside _load_pnm() that can bypass the memory allocation guard. A crafted PNM/PGM/PPM file with large dimension values causes the overflow to wrap around, allocating an undersized buffer and potentially triggering a heap buffer overflow. Any application using CImg to load untrusted image files is affected. This issue has been patched via commit 4ca26bc.

Published: 2026-05-04 Last update: 2026-05-07 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]

Conclusion & alert: CVE-2026-42144 is rated Low Risk (25/100): CVSS Medium severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.01%). Mandatory action: 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-2026-42144

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 2026-05-05 0.01%

Full EPSS history (1 record total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2026-42144

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
6.1 3.1 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:L/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: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:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
1.8 4.2 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2026-42144

OS Trackers for CVE-2026-42144

vendor priority summary link
debian not yet assigned CVE-2026-42144 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 1 source packages (cimg), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 3, open 2. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2026-42144
ubuntu medium CVE-2026-42144 medium priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (cimg), 8 status rows across 8 suites (bionic, focal, jammy, noble, questing, resolute, upstream, xenial): needs-triage 8. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2026-42144

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2026-42144

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
No affected products in dataset.

References for CVE-2026-42144

cvelogic Threat Intelligence