OpenexrApplication

CVE-2026-42216

CRITICAL · 9.1 CVSS v3.1 Published 2026-05-07
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 3.2.9 / 3.3.11 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Public exploit 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
OpenEXR provides the specification and reference implementation of the EXR file format, an image storage format for the motion picture industry. From versions 3.0.0 to before 3.2.9, 3.3.0 to before 3.3.11, and 3.4.0 to before 3.4.11, IDManifest::init() reconstructs strings from a prefix-compressed representation. If the previous string is longer than 255 bytes, the next string is expected to begin with a 2-byte prefix length. The code reads stringList[i][0] and stringList[i][1] without checking that the current string has at least two bytes. This issue has been patched in versions 3.2.9, 3.3.11, and 3.4.11.

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
How this class of weakness works · CWE-125

The code reads past the end (or before the start) of a buffer, returning memory that was never meant to be exposed. Attackers use it to leak secrets like keys or to defeat memory-protection defences. Remediation is validating indices and lengths before every read.

General guidance for the out-of-bounds read class — the official description and references above are authoritative for this specific CVE. Want a bespoke review and a reviewed fix? Ask our team →

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
OpenexrApplication
Affected:>= 3.0.0, < 3.2.9>= 3.3.0, < 3.3.11>= 3.4.0, < 3.4.11

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
High
Integrity
None
Availability
High

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

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 · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 3.2.9 / 3.3.11 / 3.4.11 or later
Fixed in 3.2.93.3.113.4.11
Recommended fix High confidence

OpenEXR 3.2.9, 3.3.11, or 3.4.11 (or any later version)

  1. Identify all applications or projects that depend on the OpenEXR library
  2. Use your package manager or dependency management system to check the current installed version of OpenEXR (e.g., dpkg -l | grep openexr, rpm -qa | grep openexr, or check your package-lock.json/Cargo.toml/requirements.txt)
  3. Upgrade OpenEXR to version 3.2.9, 3.3.11, or 3.4.11 or later using your system's package manager (e.g., apt-get install libopenexr-dev=3.4.11, yum update openexr, or brew upgrade openexr)
  4. If using OpenEXR as a project dependency, update the version constraint in your build configuration to require version 3.2.9+, 3.3.11+, or 3.4.11+
  5. Rebuild and redeploy any applications that link against OpenEXR
  6. Verify the installed version matches the fixed release using: openexrinfo --version or checking the library file
Caveat Review project compatibility with the new OpenEXR version before upgrading, as minor version changes in 3.x may include API changes

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

We can perform the upgrade in your staging environment and verify nothing breaks — typical engagement from $3,550. Get the upgrade done

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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-2026-42216 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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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
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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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