CVE-2026-27168
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 · uneditedSAIL is a cross-platform library for loading and saving images with support for animation, metadata, and ICC profiles. All versions are vulnerable to Heap-based Buffer Overflow through the XWD parser's use of the bytes_per_line value. The value os read directly from the file as the read size in io->strict_read(), and is never compared to the actual size of the destination buffer. An attacker can provide an XWD file with an arbitrarily large bytes_per_line, causing a massive write operation beyond the buffer heap allocated for the image pixels. The issue did not have a fix at the time of publication.
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 confidenceSAIL library's XWD parser has a heap-based buffer overflow vulnerability where the bytes_per_line value is read directly from the file and used as the size parameter in io->strict_read() without any validation against the destination buffer's actual size. An attacker can craft an XWD file with an arbitrarily large bytes_per_line value to write beyond the allocated heap buffer.
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<= 0.9.10CVSS 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
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/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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Identify if Sail library is installedSearch for Sail library files on the system. On Linux: `find /usr -name '*sail*' 2>/dev/null` or check package manager: `dpkg -l | grep sail` or `rpm -qa | grep sail`. On macOS: `brew list sail` or check /usr/local/lib. On Windows: search Program Files for sail.dll or check installed packages.Affected if The Sail library or any application depending on it is present on the system
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Determine the installed Sail versionIf installed via package manager, query the version: `dpkg -l | grep sail`, `rpm -qa | grep sail`, or `brew info sail`. If a binary, check: `strings <binary> | grep -i sail` for version strings, or check the library file metadata.Affected if The version is 0.9.10 or any version lower than 0.9.10
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Identify applications or tools that use the Sail libraryCheck which applications link to the Sail library: on Linux run `ldd <application> | grep sail` or `ldconfig -p | grep sail`. Review project dependencies if Sail is a build dependency.Affected if Any application that processes image files is linked to the Sail library
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Check for XWD file processing capabilitySearch for code that handles XWD files or image conversion tools: grep for 'xwd' in source code, configuration files, or check for XWD file extensions in processed directories. Review any image processing pipelines or tools that use Sail for image format conversion.Affected if The system or any application uses Sail to process XWD format files, especially from untrusted sources
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Inspect XWD file handling code for bounds validationIf source code is available, search for XWD parsing code: look for 'bytes_per_line', 'XWD', or 'xwd' in the codebase. Check if the bytes_per_line field from the XWD header is validated against buffer sizes before being passed to read operations.Affected if XWD parsing code exists and bytes_per_line from the file header is used directly in read operations without size validation
The environment is affected if the Sail library version 0.9.10 or lower is installed and any application uses it to process XWD files, particularly from untrusted sources, without additional input validation on the bytes_per_line field.
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.
dbcve · scopedUntil an official patch is available, validate that bytes_per_line does not exceed the calculated buffer size before performing read operations. Alternatively, avoid processing untrusted XWD files.
- No remediation steps available as no patch or fixed version has been published.
- Monitor the Sail project repository (github.com) for future security updates addressing the XWD parser heap-based buffer overflow vulnerability.
- Consider disabling XWD file format support in applications using the Sail library as a temporary mitigation until a fix is available.
- Implement input validation at the application layer to reject XWD files with suspicious or unusually large bytes_per_line values.
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation6.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2026-27168 — 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-2026-27168 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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- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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