Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
ExifReader versions before 4.39.0 can consume excessive memory when processing a specially crafted image. Services that automatically inspect untrusted image uploads could slow down, crash, or become unavailable. The supplied evidence describes denial of service, not data theft or code execution.
Executive priority
Treat this as a high-priority availability issue for public image-upload or media-processing services. Patch promptly where untrusted images reach ExifReader; otherwise inventory and schedule remediation based on actual reachability. Emergency incident response is not supported by the supplied exploitation evidence.
Technical view
A crafted ICC mluc tag can specify an attacker-controlled record count with a zero record size. ExifReader then repeatedly processes the same record and grows an array without adequate bounds validation, potentially exhausting memory. The issue is classified as CWE-1284 and scored 8.7 under CVSS 4.0.
Likely exposure
Exposure is highest where server-side, browser, or processing-pipeline code uses ExifReader before 4.39.0 on images supplied by untrusted users. Systems without ExifReader, running 4.39.0 or later, or never parsing untrusted images are not indicated as affected.
Exploitation context
The CVSS vector records proof-of-concept maturity, but the supplied bundle provides no evidence of active exploitation and reports that the CVE is not in KEV. Practical impact requires an application to parse an attacker-supplied crafted image with a vulnerable ExifReader version.
Researcher notes
The vulnerable condition combines an attacker-controlled mluc record count with zero record size, causing non-progressing parsing and unbounded array growth. Review should focus on parser progress guarantees, bounds validation, and resource isolation. The linked repository commit is the supplied code-level remediation reference; no confidentiality or integrity impact is described.
Mitigation direction
- Upgrade ExifReader to version 4.39.0 or later.
- Prioritize internet-facing upload and automated image-processing services.
- Apply file-size, resource, timeout, and concurrency limits around untrusted image parsing.
- Check vendor guidance and the linked corrective commit for deployment-specific considerations.
Validation and detection
- Search manifests, lockfiles, bundled assets, and dependency inventories for ExifReader versions below 4.39.0.
- Confirm the resolved production version, including transitive and vendored copies.
- Identify every path that parses user-supplied or externally sourced images.
- Verify memory limits and failure isolation prevent one parser failure from disrupting the service.
- Run existing image-processing regression tests after upgrading.
Public sources used
Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.
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-1284: 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 lookupCVE-2026-8813 mapping review
Open the CVE-to-ATT&CK bridge for reviewed, inferred, or future official mappings tied to this CVE.
Open ATT&CK lookup- Severity
- High
- CVSS
- 8.7 (4.0)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:P
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.
SSVC decision data
CVSS vector scores
2 official scoresWe 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.
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:P——snykCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H/E:P3.93.6snykVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 4.0 score
8.7HighVector: CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:P
Base CVSS 3.1 score
7.5HighVector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H/E:P
Vulnerability timeline
Timeline events are normalized from CVE metadata, CNA source timelines, ADP timelines, and KEV metadata when present.
- CVE reservedCVE Program
The CVE ID was reserved by the assigning CNA.
- CVE publishedCVE Program
The CVE record was published.
- CVE updatedCVE Program
The CVE record metadata indicates this as the latest update time.
ADP provider summaries
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- https://security.snyk.io/vuln/SNYK-JS-EXIFREADER-16689335CVE reference, snyk
- https://gist.github.com/yuki-matsuhashi/3243ea38e5fbf8cfe19b624f04c9f4b4CVE reference, snyk
- https://github.com/mattiasw/ExifReader/commit/c9d88b67e127b2dcc7b46e328df468257fb2dc30CVE reference, snyk
Products and packages named in the record
CWE details
CWE links open Glexia weakness intelligence pages with official CWE context, developer remediation guidance, and related CVE mappings.
Improper Validation of Specified Quantity in Input
Improper Validation of Specified Quantity in Input represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.