Description
libass is a portable subtitle renderer for the `ASS`/SSA (Advanced Substation Alpha/Substation Alpha) subtitle format. Prior to 0.17.5, libass can overread and overwrite the glyph array in `wrap_lines_measure` while rendering malicious `ASS` content. In `wrap modes other than two`, a final line ending with a literal backslash-n sequence and otherwise consisting only of such sequences or spaces can remain after early trimming and make the line-measurement loops overshoot by one glyph. When the total text size exactly matches the allocated glyph-array capacity, the first loop reads an uninitialized 32-bit fixed-point `pos.x` value, although that value is not subsequently used. The second loop writes `pos.x` and `pos.y` beyond the array, zeroing the first and adding an attacker-controllable offset to the second. No actual exploitation beyond possible denial of service is known; broader exploitation is theoretical and constrained by the addresses, limited writes, and ASLR. This issue is fixed in version 0.17.5.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected | Fixed |
|---|---|---|---|
| libass | libass | < 0.17.5 | — |
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 | libass | 1:0.17.5-1 | — |
| Debian 13 | libass | 1:0.17.3-1+deb13u1 | — |
| Debian 12 | libass | 1:0.17.1-1+deb12u1 | — |
Ubuntu
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ubuntu Pro 26.04 LTS | libass | 1:0.17.4-2ubuntu0.1~esm1 | USN-8815-1 |
| Ubuntu Pro 24.04 LTS | libass | 1:0.17.1-2ubuntu0.1~esm1 | USN-8815-1 |
| Ubuntu Pro 20.04 LTS | libass | 1:0.14.0-2ubuntu0.1~esm1 | USN-8815-1 |
Show 2 more (older releases, extended support, other products)Fewer releases
| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ubuntu Pro 18.04 LTS | libass | 1:0.14.0-1ubuntu0.1~esm1 | USN-8815-1 |
| Ubuntu Pro 14.04 LTS | libass | 0.10.1-3ubuntu1+esm2 | USN-8815-1 |
openSUSE
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| openSUSE Tumbleweed | libass | 0.17.5-2.1 | openSUSE-SU-2026:12515-1 |
Advisories 2
- openSUSE-SU-2026:12515-1 libass-devel-0.17.5-2.1 on GA media SUSE / openSUSE Security Updates · Nov 11, 2026
- USN-8815-1 libass vulnerabilities Ubuntu Security Notices (USN) · Nov 3, 2026