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OpenAdvisories
High · 7.8 CVE-2026-33023 EUVD-2026-22748

libsixel: Use-after-free in load_with_gdkpixbuf()

Published Apr 14, 2026 · Updated Apr 15, 2026 · Assigned by GitHub_M

Description

libsixel is a SIXEL encoder/decoder implementation derived from kmiya's sixel. In versions 1.8.7 and prior, when built with the --with-gdk-pixbuf2 option, a use-after-free vulnerability exists in load_with_gdkpixbuf() in loader.c. The cleanup path manually frees the sixel_frame_t object and its internal buffers without consulting the reference count, even though the object was created via the refcounted constructor sixel_frame_new() and exposed to the public callback. A callback that calls sixel_frame_ref(frame) to retain a logically valid reference will hold a dangling pointer after sixel_helper_load_image_file() returns, and any subsequent access to the frame or its fields triggers a use-after-free confirmed by AddressSanitizer. The root cause is a consistency failure between two cleanup strategies in the same codebase: sixel_frame_unref() is used in load_with_builtin() but raw free() is used in load_with_gdkpixbuf(). An attacker supplying a crafted image to any application built against libsixel with gdk-pixbuf2 support can trigger this reliably, potentially leading to information disclosure, memory corruption, or code execution. This issue has been fixed in version 1.8.7-r1.

Affected products

VendorProductAffectedFixed
saitoha libsixel < 1.8.7-r1 —

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 —
ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
openSUSE Tumbleweed libsixel 1.10.5-3.1 openSUSE-SU-2026:12420-1

Advisories 1

References