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OpenexrApplication

CVE-2025-12839

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.0 Published 2025-12-23
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 3.4.3 or later.
See remediation →
81/100
Remediation priority · High
No privileges

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
Academy Software Foundation OpenEXR EXR File Parsing Heap-based Buffer Overflow Remote Code Execution Vulnerability. This vulnerability allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code on affected installations of Academy Software Foundation OpenEXR. User interaction is required to exploit this vulnerability in that the target must visit a malicious page or open a malicious file. The specific flaw exists within the parsing of EXR files. The issue results from the lack of proper validation of the length of user-supplied data prior to copying it to a heap-based buffer. An attacker can leverage this vulnerability to execute code in the context of the current process. Was ZDI-CAN-27947.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · high confidence

Heap-based buffer overflow vulnerability in Academy Software Foundation OpenEXR's EXR file parser. The flaw exists due to insufficient validation of user-supplied data length before copying to a heap-based buffer during EXR parsing, allowing attackers to achieve remote code execution in the context of the current process via malicious EXR files.

MitigationApply vendor patches when available; avoid opening untrusted EXR files from unknown sources; consider sandboxing or decompressing EXR files in isolated environments to limit exposure until the fix is deployed.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
OpenexrApplication
Affected:< 3.4.3

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
Required
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Determine OpenEXR library version
    Run 'exrheader --version' or check your package manager for installed openexr version (dpkg -l libopenexr*, rpm -qa openexr, brew list openexr)
    Affected if The reported version is below 3.4.3
  2. Identify applications using OpenEXR
    Check which software on your system links to or uses the OpenEXR library (ldd on graphics apps, or grep for 'libOpenEXR' in running processes)
    Affected if Any application that parses EXR files is using a vulnerable OpenEXR version
  3. Verify EXR parsing capability
    Confirm that any tool or application on the system has the ability to open, view, or convert EXR image files
    Affected if EXR file parsing features are present and the OpenEXR version is below 3.4.3
  4. Check for recent EXR file processing
    Review application logs, recent file access histories, or image processing workflows that handle .exr files
    Affected if The system has recently processed EXR files with an unpatched OpenEXR library

You are affected if any installed version of OpenEXR library is below 3.4.3 and the system has the capability to parse EXR files.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 3.4.3 or later
Fixed in 3.4.3
Interim mitigation

Apply vendor patches when available; avoid opening untrusted EXR files from unknown sources; consider sandboxing or decompressing EXR files in isolated environments to limit exposure until the fix is deployed.

Recommended fix High confidence

OpenEXR 3.4.3 or later

  1. 1. Identify all systems, applications, or dependencies that include the OpenEXR library
  2. 2. Locate and inventory the current OpenEXR version installed on affected systems (e.g., using package managers, dependency scanners, or binary inspection)
  3. 3. Obtain the fixed OpenEXR version 3.4.3 or later from the official Academy Software Foundation repository or your operating system's package repository
  4. 4. Update the OpenEXR library to version 3.4.3 or newer using your system's package manager (e.g., apt, yum, brew) or by rebuilding from source
  5. 5. Rebuild any applications that statically link against OpenEXR to ensure they use the updated library
  6. 6. Verify the upgrade was successful by checking the installed OpenEXR version
  7. 7. Re-scan or re-test any files processed by OpenEXR-based tools to ensure normal operation

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Openexr Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA3.0 h
15.0 hours of engineering $2,560
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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2025-12839 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data