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High · 7.0 CVE-2026-33018 EUVD-2026-22740

libsixel: Use-After-Free in load_gif()

Published Apr 14, 2026 · Updated Apr 16, 2026 · Assigned by GitHub_M

Description

libsixel is a SIXEL encoder/decoder implementation derived from kmiya's sixel. Versions 1.8.7 and prior contain a Use-After-Free vulnerability via the load_gif() function in fromgif.c, where a single sixel_frame_t object is reused across all frames of an animated GIF and gif_init_frame() unconditionally frees and reallocates frame->pixels between frames without consulting the object's reference count. Because the public API explicitly provides sixel_frame_ref() to retain a frame and sixel_frame_get_pixels() to access the raw pixel buffer, a callback following this documented usage pattern will hold a dangling pointer after the second frame is decoded, resulting in a heap use-after-free confirmed by ASAN. Any application using sixel_helper_load_image_file() with a multi-frame callback to process user-supplied animated GIFs is affected, with a reliable crash as the minimum impact and potential for code execution. This issue has been fixed in version 1.8.7-r1.

Affected products

VendorProductAffectedFixed
saitoha libsixel < 1.8.7-rc1 —

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.

ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
Debian 14 libsixel 1:1.8.7-r2-1 —
Debian 13 libsixel No fix yet —
Debian 12 libsixel No fix yet —
ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
Ubuntu 26.10 libsixel No fix yet —
Ubuntu 26.04 LTS libsixel No fix yet —
Ubuntu 25.10 libsixel No fix yet —
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS libsixel No fix yet —
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS libsixel No fix yet —
Show 3 more (older releases, extended support, other products)
ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
Ubuntu 20.04 LTS libsixel No fix yet —
Ubuntu 18.04 LTS libsixel No fix yet —
Ubuntu 16.04 LTS libsixel No fix yet —

References