Description
OpenEXR provides the specification and reference implementation of the EXR file format, an image storage format for the motion picture industry. From 3.2.0 to before 3.2.7, 3.3.9, and 3.4.9, a misaligned memory write vulnerability exists in LossyDctDecoder_execute() in src/lib/OpenEXRCore/internal_dwa_decoder.h:749. When decoding a DWA or DWAB-compressed EXR file containing a FLOAT-type channel, the decoder performs an in-place HALF→FLOAT conversion by casting an unaligned uint8_t * row pointer to float * and writing through it. Because the row buffer may not be 4-byte aligned, this constitutes undefined behavior under the C standard and crashes immediately on architectures that enforce alignment (ARM, RISC-V, etc.). On x86 it is silently tolerated at runtime but remains exploitable via compiler optimizations that assume aligned access. This vulnerability is fixed in 3.2.7, 3.3.9, and 3.4.9.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected | Fixed |
|---|---|---|---|
| AcademySoftwareFoundation | openexr | >= 3.2.0, < 3.2.7, >= 3.3.0, < 3.3.9, >= 3.4.0, < 3.4.9 | — |
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 | openexr | 3.4.14-0.1 | — |
| Debian 13 | openexr | 3.2.12-1~deb13u1 | — |
| Debian 12 | openexr | No fix yet | — |
Ubuntu
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ubuntu 26.10 | openexr | No fix yet | — |
openSUSE
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| openSUSE Tumbleweed | openexr | 3.4.9-1.1 | openSUSE-SU-2026:10505-1 |
| openSUSE Leap 16.0 | openexr | 3.2.2-160000.6.1 | openSUSE-SU-2026:20605-1 |
Alpine
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alpine v3.24 | openexr | 3.4.10-r0 | — |
| Alpine v3.23 | openexr | 3.4.13-r0 | — |
| Alpine v3.22 | openexr | 3.3.11-r0 | — |
Advisories 2
- openSUSE-SU-2026:20605-1 Security update for openexr SUSE / openSUSE Security Updates · Apr 24, 2026
- openSUSE-SU-2026:10505-1 libIex-3_4-33-3.4.9-1.1 on GA media SUSE / openSUSE Security Updates · Apr 9, 2026
References
- https://github.com/AcademySoftwareFoundation/openexr/security/advisories/GHSA-w88v-vqhq-5p24
- https://github.com/AcademySoftwareFoundation/openexr/releases/tag/v3.2.7
- https://github.com/AcademySoftwareFoundation/openexr/releases/tag/v3.3.9
- https://github.com/AcademySoftwareFoundation/openexr/releases/tag/v3.4.9