CVE-2026-35444

SDL_image has a heap buffer overflow READ via unchecked colormap index in XCF loader

MEDIUM
6.1
CVSS Score
Published: April 6, 2026 at 09:44 PM UTC
Updated: July 24, 2026 at 09:20 PM UTC
2 products affected across 2 vendorsSdl ImageSDL_image

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Severity
MEDIUM6.1
Exploit prediction
EPSS 0.3%
SSVC
No known exploit

Description

SDL_image is a library to load images of various formats as SDL surfaces. In do_layer_surface() in src/IMG_xcf.c, pixel index values from decoded XCF tile data are used directly as colormap indices without validating them against the colormap size (cm_num). A crafted .xcf file with a small colormap and out-of-range pixel indices causes heap out-of-bounds reads of up to 762 bytes past the colormap allocation. Both IMAGE_INDEXED code paths are affected (bpp=1 and bpp=2). The leaked heap bytes are written into the output surface pixel data, making them potentially observable in the rendered image. This vulnerability is fixed with commit 996bf12888925932daace576e09c3053410896f8.

Affected

Our own answer: ranges merged, affected separated from platform-only, with confidence and review flags.

v < 2026-04-02
Affected range stops below 2026-04-02, so it looks safe — our inference, not a vendor statement
v < 996bf12888925932daace576e09c3053410896f8

Remediation

No guide yet

No remediation guidance has been written for this CVE yet. What the record does show:

References (1)

x_refsource_CONFIRMPatchVendor Advisory
Source: cverecord
https://github.com/libsdl-org/SDL_image/security/advisories/GHSA-gq8w-x74c-h6p7

SSVC — Action Prioritization

SSVCNo known exploitNot automatablePartial impact

SSVC signals action urgency (what to patch first), separate from CVSS which measures severity.

CVSS

Attack Vector
LOCAL
Complexity
LOW
Privileges
NONE
User Interaction
REQUIRED
Scope
UNCHANGED
Confidentiality
HIGH
Integrity
NONE
Availability
LOW
Vector?

Quick Info

StatusANALYZED
CWE
CWE-125

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