CVE-2026-2049
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 · uneditedGIMP HDR File Parsing Heap-based Buffer Overflow Remote Code Execution Vulnerability. This vulnerability allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code on affected installations of GIMP. 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 HDR 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-28618.
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 confidenceGIMP contains a heap-based buffer overflow vulnerability in its HDR image file parser. The flaw exists due to insufficient validation of user-supplied data length before copying into a heap-allocated buffer, allowing an attacker to overwrite adjacent memory and achieve arbitrary code execution in the context of the current process.
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
- None
- User interaction
- Required
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Verify GIMP is installedRun 'gimp --version' or check for GIMP in installed programs (e.g., dpkg -l | grep gimp, rpm -qa | grep gimp, or check C:\Program Files\GIMP on Windows)Affected if GIMP is present on the system and has HDR parsing capability
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Determine GIMP versionExecute 'gimp --version' or 'gimp -v' to obtain the exact version numberAffected if The installed version has not been patched for the heap overflow vulnerability in HDR parsing
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Confirm HDR file support is presentCheck for HDR-related plugins or filters: look in GIMP's plug-ins directory (e.g., /usr/lib/gimp/*/plug-ins/ or %APPDATA%\GIMP\*\plug-ins) for file-hdr, rgb-to-hdr, or similar HDR processing modules; or attempt to open a .hdr file with GIMPAffected if HDR file handling modules are loaded and functional in the installed GIMP
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Inspect HDR file processing activityCheck user directories (Downloads, Documents, recent folders) for .hdr files; review any logs or file access history indicating GIMP has opened HDR filesAffected if Untrusted HDR files have been opened or processed by GIMP, exposing the vulnerability
A user is affected if GIMP with HDR parsing capability is installed and processes a maliciously crafted HDR file, since the heap overflow occurs during insufficiently validated length checks when parsing such files.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
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 dataAvoid opening untrusted or unverified HDR files until an official patch is released. Users should only open HDR files from trusted sources.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2026-2049 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2026-2049 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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