Description
libheif is a HEIF and AVIF file format decoder and encoder. In versions 1.21.2 and below, a crafted 800-byte HEIF sequence file causes an infinite loop in Box_stts::get_sample_duration(), consuming 100% CPU indefinitely with zero progress, leading to DoS. The loop has no iteration limit or timeout and is triggered during file open (parsing) - before any user interaction or image decoding. The process stays alive (no crash, no error logged), making it invisible to crash-based monitoring. This issue has been fixed in version 1.22.0.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected | Fixed |
|---|---|---|---|
| strukturag | libheif | < 1.22.0 | — |
Fixed in Linux distributions
Distributions backport fixes, so the version that fixes this vulnerability differs per release — upgrade to at least the version shown. From the distributions' security trackers and advisories.
Debian
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Debian 14 | libheif | 1.23.1-1 | — |
| Debian 12 | libheif | No fix yet | — |
Ubuntu
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ubuntu 26.04 LTS | libheif | 1.21.2-3ubuntu0.1 | — |
| Ubuntu 25.10 | libheif | 1.20.2-1ubuntu0.4 | — |
SUSE
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| SLES 15 SP7 | libheif | 1.23.0-150700.3.15.1 | SUSE-SU-2026:2622-1 |
Show 2 more (older releases, extended support, other products)Fewer releases
| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| SLES for SAP 16.0 | libheif | 1.23.0-160000.1.1 | SUSE-SU-2026:22153-1 |
| SLES 16.0 | libheif | 1.23.0-160000.1.1 | SUSE-SU-2026:22153-1 |
openSUSE
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| openSUSE Tumbleweed | libheif | 1.22.2-1.1 | openSUSE-SU-2026:10878-1 |
| openSUSE Leap 16.0 | libheif | 1.23.0-160000.1.1 | openSUSE-SU-2026:20974-1 |
Alpine
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alpine v3.24 | libheif | 1.22.2-r0 | — |
| Alpine v3.23 | libheif | 1.23.0-r0 | — |
Advisories 4
- SUSE-SU-2026:2622-1 Security update for libheif SUSE / openSUSE Security Updates · Jun 25, 2026
- openSUSE-SU-2026:20974-1 Security update for libheif SUSE / openSUSE Security Updates · Jun 24, 2026
- SUSE-SU-2026:22153-1 Security update for libheif SUSE / openSUSE Security Updates · Jun 24, 2026
- openSUSE-SU-2026:10878-1 gdk-pixbuf-loader-libheif-1.22.2-1.1 on GA media SUSE / openSUSE Security Updates · May 29, 2026