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CVE Record

CVE-2026-20889: A heap-based buffer overflow vulnerability exists in the x3f_thumb_loader functionality of LibRaw Commit d2...

A heap-based buffer overflow vulnerability exists in the x3f_thumb_loader functionality of LibRaw Commit d20315b. A specially crafted malicious file can lead to a heap buffer overflow. An attacker can provide a malicious file to trigger this vulnerability.

CriticalCVSS 9.8Not KEV-listedUpdated
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Glexia's TakeAutomated analysiscritical

Security readout for executives and security teams

Plain-English summary

LibRaw has a critical memory corruption flaw in its thumbnail-loading code. A malicious image-like file could trigger a heap buffer overflow when processed. Organizations should treat exposed image ingestion, preview, or conversion workflows as priority review targets, especially where untrusted files are handled automatically.

Executive priority

Prioritize this as urgent for environments that process untrusted images. The business risk is highest where file uploads or automated media workflows can reach LibRaw without strong isolation. If exposure is confirmed, patch or isolate quickly.

Technical view

CVE-2026-20889 is a heap-based buffer overflow in LibRaw commit d20315b, in x3f_thumb_loader. The CVE maps to CWE-120 and CWE-190. The supplied CVSS 3.1 score is 9.8 with network attack vector, low complexity, no privileges, and high confidentiality, integrity, and availability impact.

Likely exposure

Exposure is most likely in applications, servers, desktops, or processing pipelines that use vulnerable LibRaw builds to parse uploaded or supplied raw image files. The bundle identifies LibRaw commit d20315b, but does not enumerate all downstream products.

Exploitation context

The source bundle says an attacker can provide a specially crafted malicious file to trigger the overflow. KEV is false, and the provided sources do not state active exploitation in the wild. No exploit maturity evidence is included.

Researcher notes

Evidence is strong for vulnerability type, affected upstream commit, and CVSS severity. Evidence is incomplete for downstream product scope, exploit availability, and universal remediation. Treat vendor package advisories as authoritative for affected distributions.

Mitigation direction

  • Inventory LibRaw usage in applications, packages, containers, and image-processing services.
  • Review Talos, LibRaw, Red Hat, and operating system vendor guidance for affected builds.
  • Apply relevant vendor updates or advisories where available for your platform.
  • Limit or sandbox automated processing of untrusted raw image files.
  • Add monitoring for crashes in services that parse raw image uploads.

Validation and detection

  • Confirm whether deployed LibRaw builds match or include commit d20315b.
  • Check SBOMs, package manifests, and container images for LibRaw dependencies.
  • Map file-upload, thumbnailing, and conversion paths that invoke LibRaw.
  • Review Red Hat errata applicability for managed Linux estates.
  • Look for recent parser crashes or abnormal restarts in image-processing workloads.
Prepared
Confidence
medium
Sources
10

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-120: 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
cwe · low confidence lookup

CWE-190: 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-2026-20889 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
Critical
CVSS
9.8 (3.1)
Known Exploited
No
Published

Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

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.

2CVSS vectors
5Timeline events
3ADP providers
10Source links

SSVC decision data

CISA-ADPCISA Coordinator
Timestamp
Version
2.0.3
Exploitation: noneAutomatable: yesTechnical Impact: total

CVSS vector scores

2 official scores

We collect every scored CVSS vector available in the official CNA and ADP containers. When more than one version is present, the table keeps the source vectors side by side instead of collapsing them into the highest score.

ScoreVersionSeverityVectorExploitImpactSource
9.8CVSS 3.1CriticalCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H3.95.9talos
7.5CVSS 3.1HighCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H1.65.9redhat-SADP

Vulnerability scoring details

Base CVSS 3.1 score

9.8Critical
CVSS 3.1 vector shape for CVE-2026-20889Attack VectorAttack ComplexityPrivileges RequiredUser InteractionScopeConfidentiality ImpactIntegrity ImpactAvailability Impact

Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Attack Vector
NetworkAdjacentLocalPhysical
Attack Complexity
LowHigh
Privileges Required
NoneLowHigh
User Interaction
NoneRequired
Scope
ChangedUnchanged
Confidentiality Impact
HighLowNone
Integrity Impact
HighLowNone
Availability Impact
HighLowNone

Vulnerability timeline

Timeline events are normalized from CVE metadata, CNA source timelines, ADP timelines, and KEV metadata when present.

  1. CVE reservedCVE Program

    The CVE ID was reserved by the assigning CNA.

  2. ADP timelineredhat-SADP

    Made public.

  3. CVE publishedCVE Program

    The CVE record was published.

  4. ADP timelineredhat-SADP

    Reported to Red Hat.

  5. CVE updatedCVE Program

    The CVE record metadata indicates this as the latest update time.

ADP provider summaries

CISA-ADPCISA ADP Vulnrichment
other:ssvc
CVECVE Program Container
redhat-SADPLibRaw: LibRaw: Arbitrary code execution via specially crafted image file
other:Red Hat severity ratingcvssV3_1
  • 2026-04-07T15:03:34.546Z: Reported to Red Hat.
  • 2026-04-07T13:49:27.912Z: Made public.

Source materials

Affected products

Products and packages named in the record

VendorProductVersion / packageStatus
LibRawLibRawCommit d20315bListed
Weakness

CWE details

CWE-120CWE-190

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