Heap-based Buffer OverflowWeakness · CWE-122

CVE-2025-29069

HIGH · 7.3 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-04-01
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
82/100
Remediation priority · High
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

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
A heap buffer overflow vulnerability has been identified in the lcms2-2.16. The vulnerability exists in the UnrollChunkyBytes function in cmspack.c, which is responsible for handling color space transformations. NOTE: this is disputed by the Supplier because the finding identified a bug in a third-party calling program, not in lcms.

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 · moderate confidence

Heap buffer overflow vulnerability in lcms2-2.16 in the UnrollChunkyBytes function in cmspack.c during color space transformations. The vulnerability allows memory corruption due to improper bounds handling when processing color data.

MitigationImplement proper bounds checking in UnrollChunkyBytes; validate input dimensions and buffer sizes before color transformation operations; consider applying memory protection tools like ASan during development to detect similar issues.

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

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
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
Low
Integrity
Low
Availability
Low

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:L

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. Identify if lcms2 is in use
    Search your codebase or dependencies for references to 'lcms', 'littlecms', or 'cms.h' header inclusion. Check build artifacts, package manifests, or dependency lists for lcms2 library linkage.
    Affected if lcms2 library is present in the environment
  2. Determine lcms2 version
    Run 'lcms2-config --version' or 'pkg-config --modversion lcms2' if installed as a system library. For embedded usage, inspect the linked library binary or check version macros in source files (e.g., LCMS_VERSION).
    Affected if Version is 2.16 exactly, or falls within the 2.x range without the fix applied
  3. Identify color transformation usage
    Search source code for calls to cmsDoTransform, cmsCreateTransform, cmsCreateMultiprofileTransform, or related transformation functions from the lcms2 API.
    Affected if Color transformation functions from lcms2 are being called in the application
  4. Check for image/pipeline processing with color profiles
    Inspect code paths that load ICC profiles and perform color space conversions (e.g., RGB to CMYK, Lab, or other color space transformations). Look for cmsOpenProfileFromFile, cmsOpenProfileFromMem, or similar profile loading functions.
    Affected if ICC profiles are loaded and color space conversions are performed using the affected code path

Environment is affected if lcms2 version 2.16 is in use and color space transformations via UnrollChunkyBytes are being performed with user-controlled or untrusted ICC profile data.

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.

From vendor data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Implement proper bounds checking in UnrollChunkyBytes; validate input dimensions and buffer sizes before color transformation operations; consider applying memory protection tools like ASan during development to detect similar issues.

Have this fixed Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing8.0 h
  • Review / QA3.0 h
21.0 hours of engineering $3,620
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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-2025-29069 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What belongs here
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