CVE-2026-38076
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 · uneditedAn integer overflow in the jbig2_arith_iaid_ctx_new() function of Artifex commit cc37d0 allows attackers to cause a Denial of Service (DoS) via a crafted input.
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 confidenceAn integer overflow vulnerability exists in the jbig2_arith_iaid_ctx_new() function in Artifex library code. When processing crafted JBIG2 input, the function fails to properly validate integer bounds before memory allocation, potentially leading to buffer overflow conditions that can cause denial of service.
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
- None
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/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 Artifex library installationSearch for ghostscript or libartifex packages on the system using package manager commands (dpkg -l, rpm -qa, or similar) or by locating shared libraries related to jbig2 (find /usr -name '*jbig*' 2>/dev/null)Affected if The Artifex library or ghostscript with jbig2 support is installed
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Determine installed versionRun 'gs --version' for ghostscript or query the package version with the system package manager, then compare against the patched version containing commit cc37d0Affected if The version is older than the patched release containing the fix for cc37d0
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Check for JBIG2 processing capabilityVerify the jbig2dec decoder or JBIG2 support is present in the installation by checking for jbig2-related shared libraries (libjbig2*) or running 'gs -h' to list supported device/output formatsAffected if JBIG2 support is compiled into or available for the Artifex library
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Confirm jbig2_arith_iaid_ctx_new function presenceIf debugging tools are available, examine the libjbig2 or ghostscript binary for the jbig2_arith_iaid_ctx_new symbol; otherwise, verify the library version against the fix commit cc37d0Affected if The function exists in the installed library version and the version predates the fix
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Review JBIG2 input processing usageAudit logs, application configurations, or document processing workflows that accept JBIG2 files (file extension .jbig2, .jbig, or MIME type application/x-jbig2) as input to the affected libraryAffected if The system processes untrusted JBIG2 input through the Artifex library
A user is affected if they have an Artifex/Ghostscript installation with JBIG2 support that is older than the version containing the cc37d0 fix, and they process JBIG2 files through it.
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 dataUpdate Artifex libraries to the patched version containing the fix for cc37d0. Implement strict bounds checking in the jbig2_arith_iaid_ctx_new() function and validate all arithmetic coding context size parameters before allocation.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,088.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2026-38076 — 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-2026-38076 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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