Description
libheif is a HEIF and AVIF file format decoder and encoder. From 1.19.0 until 1.23.0, a crafted HEIF sequence accepted by heif_context_read_from_memory() with the msf1 sequence brand can cause unbounded heap allocation. In libheif/sequences/seq_boxes.cc, Box_stsz::parse() applies max_sequence_frames only to variable-size samples, so fixed-size mode accepts an attacker-controlled sample_count without a bound. In libheif/sequences/track.cc, Track::load() also adds current_sample_idx and samples_per_chunk in 32-bit arithmetic, allowing the consistency check to be bypassed by wraparound. The resulting values reach the Chunk::Chunk() allocation path, which can consume gigabytes of memory and crash or stall the process through memory exhaustion. This issue is fixed in version 1.23.0.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected | Fixed |
|---|---|---|---|
| strukturag | libheif | >= 1.19.0, < 1.23.0 | — |
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 | 1.21.2-3ubuntu0.3 | — |
| Ubuntu 25.10 | libheif | 1.20.2-1ubuntu0.6 | — |
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 | 1.23.0-2.1 | openSUSE-SU-2026:10983-1 |
| 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 | 1.23.0-r0 | — |
| Alpine v3.23 | libheif | 1.23.0-r0 | — |
Public exploits
Exploit or proof-of-concept code for this vulnerability is publicly available, which lowers the bar for attackers. Treat it as a reason to patch sooner.
GitHub 1 repository
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MuhammedHussein17/libheif-cve-2026-50142 ★ 0 · Jun 4, 2026
CVE-2026-50142 — Heap allocation vulnerability in libheif HEIF sequence parser
Sources: PoC-in-GitHub, Metasploit Framework, Exploit-DB — updated daily. Only links are listed; no exploit code is hosted here.
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-2026:10983-1 gdk-pixbuf-loader-libheif-1.23.0-2.1 on GA media SUSE / openSUSE Security Updates · Jun 10, 2026