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Heap-based Buffer OverflowWeakness · CWE-122

CVE-2025-48797

HIGH · 7.3 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-05-27
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
73/100
Remediation priority · Elevated

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 flaw was found in GIMP when processing certain TGA image files. If a user opens one of these image files that has been specially crafted by an attacker, GIMP can be tricked into making serious memory errors, potentially leading to crashes and causing a heap buffer overflow.

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

GIMP contains a heap buffer overflow vulnerability when parsing TGA image files. A specially crafted TGA file with malformed header or payload data can cause GIMP to write beyond allocated buffer boundaries during processing, potentially leading to arbitrary code execution or denial of service.

MitigationDo not open untrusted TGA files in GIMP until a patch is available. Update GIMP to the latest version once the vulnerability is addressed by the maintainers.

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
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges
Low
User interaction
Required
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/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. Identify installed GIMP version
    Run 'gimp --version' or check Help > About in GIMP to find the exact version number
    Affected if The version is earlier than the patched release (once available)
  2. Confirm TGA file support is present
    Attempt to open a valid .tga file in GIMP or check File > Open to see if TGA appears in the supported formats list
    Affected if TGA format support is enabled (default state) - the vulnerability exists in the TGA parsing code path
  3. Verify TGA file handling is not disabled
    Check GIMP preferences for disabled file format plugins; by default TGA should be available in File > Open dialog
    Affected if TGA files can be opened in GIMP (default behavior)
  4. Check for recent GIMP updates
    Run your system's package manager update check (apt update && apt list --upgradable, brew outdated, or similar) to see if GIMP has pending updates
    Affected if A newer GIMP version is available that may contain the security fix

You are affected if GIMP is installed with TGA file support enabled and the installed version predates the patched release addressing CVE-2025-48797.

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

Do not open untrusted TGA files in GIMP until a patch is available. Update GIMP to the latest version once the vulnerability is addressed by the maintainers.

Have this fixed Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA3.0 h
19.0 hours of engineering $3,380
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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-2025-48797 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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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
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