LiveActive security incident?Get immediate response
CVE Record

CVE-2020-27824: A flaw was found in OpenJPEG’s encoder in the opj_dwt_calc_explicit_stepsizes() function.

A flaw was found in OpenJPEG’s encoder in the opj_dwt_calc_explicit_stepsizes() function. This flaw allows an attacker who can supply crafted input to decomposition levels to cause a buffer overflow. The highest threat from this vulnerability is to system availability.

UnknownCVSS not scoredNot KEV-listedUpdated
Discuss exposureBack to CVEs
Glexia's TakeAutomated analysismoderate

Security readout for executives and security teams

Plain-English summary

OpenJPEG 2.4.0 has a flaw in encoder handling that can overflow a buffer when crafted decomposition-level input is processed. The cited description says the main business risk is availability: image processing services could crash or become unreliable when handling malicious content.

Executive priority

Treat as a timely patching issue for systems that process untrusted images. Prioritize internet-facing upload, conversion, and document-processing services before routine desktop-only exposure.

Technical view

The flaw is in OpenJPEG’s opj_dwt_calc_explicit_stepsizes() encoder function. Crafted input to decomposition levels can trigger a buffer overflow. The source bundle lists CWE-20 and identifies openjpeg 2.4.0 as affected; no CVSS vector is provided.

Likely exposure

Exposure is most likely where OpenJPEG/openjpeg2 2.4.0 is installed or embedded, particularly in services, desktop tools, or pipelines that encode or process JPEG 2000 content from untrusted users or external files.

Exploitation context

The bundle does not cite active exploitation, and KEV status is false. Exploitation requires supplying crafted input that reaches the affected encoder path. Available evidence supports availability impact, not confirmed data theft or privilege escalation.

Researcher notes

Evidence is limited to the CVE description and vendor advisory references. No CVSS, fixed upstream version, exploit details, or KEV listing is included in the bundle. Avoid assuming code execution without additional source support.

Mitigation direction

  • Apply vendor OpenJPEG/openjpeg2 security updates from the relevant platform advisory.
  • Check Debian, Fedora, Oracle, or OS vendor guidance for fixed package availability.
  • Reduce exposure of image-processing services that accept untrusted JPEG 2000 files.
  • Run image conversion workloads with least privilege and process isolation where practical.

Validation and detection

  • Inventory installed OpenJPEG/openjpeg2 packages and embedded library copies.
  • Confirm openjpeg 2.4.0 is absent or vendor-patched.
  • Identify applications that process user-supplied JPEG 2000 content.
  • Review crash or availability telemetry around image encoding workflows.
Prepared
Confidence
medium
Sources
8

Public sources used

Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.

Potential ATT&CK relevance

Conservative CVE-to-ATT&CK context

These mappings and lookup hints may be relevant to the vulnerability behavior, CWE, affected product, or exposure path. Glexia-inferred context is not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, CWE, or CVE Program mapping.

ATT&CK lookup starting points

Use these exact CWE pages and searches to review the Glexia ATT&CK library from this CVE's weakness and description context.

cwe · low confidence lookup

CWE-20: Exact CWE lookup

Use the exact CWE identifier as the starting point before reviewing related ATT&CK behavior. Open the exact CWE lookup page first, then review the ATT&CK searches from that MITRE weakness context. This is a Glexia lookup hint, not an official ATT&CK mapping.

Open ATT&CK lookup
cve · low confidence lookup

CVE-2020-27824 mapping review

Open the CVE-to-ATT&CK bridge for reviewed, inferred, or future official mappings tied to this CVE.

Open ATT&CK lookup
Vulnerability profileCVE Program record
Severity
Unknown
CVSS
Not scored
Known Exploited
No
Published
Official CVE source material

CNA and ADP enrichment extracted from CVE v5

These fields come from the CVE record and ADP containers, not from Glexia's Take. They preserve time-varying source decisions such as CISA SSVC, KEV status, CVSS metrics, and provider references.

0CVSS vectors
0Timeline events
0ADP providers
7Source links

CVSS and timeline data

No CVSS vectors or timeline events were available in the normalized CVE source material.

Source materials

Affected products

Products and packages named in the record

VendorProductVersion / packageStatus
n/aopenjpegopenjpeg 2.4.0Listed
Weakness

CWE details

CWE-20

CWE links open Glexia weakness intelligence pages with official CWE context, developer remediation guidance, and related CVE mappings.

CWE-20 · source CWE mapping

Improper Input Validation

Improper Input Validation represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.

Open CWE intelligenceSame-CWE CVEs