Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling in libheif - CVE-2026-50142

Vulnerability identifier: #VU135511

CSH Severity: Medium

CVSS v4: 8.7 [CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N]

CVE-ID: CVE-2026-50142

CWE-ID: CWE-770

Exploitation vector: Remote access

Exploit availability: No public exploit available

The vulnerability allows a remote attacker to cause a denial of service.

The vulnerability exists due to allocation of resources without limits or throttling in Box_stsz::parse() fixed-size mode when parsing a crafted HEIF sequence file through the public C API. A remote attacker can supply a crafted HEIF sequence file with an excessive sample_count value to cause a denial of service.

Only the file parser is exercised, and no decoder backend is required.

libheif
Fedora
Ubuntu
libheif1 (Ubuntu package)
libheif-plugin-kvazaar (Ubuntu package)
libheif-plugin-j2kenc (Ubuntu package)
heif-thumbnailer (Ubuntu package)
libheif-plugin-libde265 (Ubuntu package)
libheif-plugin-svtenc (Ubuntu package)
libheif-plugin-jpegdec (Ubuntu package)
libheif-plugin-aomdec (Ubuntu package)
libheif-plugins-all (Ubuntu package)
libheif-plugin-dav1d (Ubuntu package)
libheif-plugin-jpegenc (Ubuntu package)
libheif-dev (Ubuntu package)
libheif-plugin-x265 (Ubuntu package)
libheif-plugin-aomenc (Ubuntu package)
libheif-plugin-ffmpegdec (Ubuntu package)
heif-gdk-pixbuf (Ubuntu package)
libheif-plugin-j2kdec (Ubuntu package)
libheif-plugin-rav1e (Ubuntu package)
libheif-examples (Ubuntu package)
heif-view (Ubuntu package)
xeve
xevd
openjph
libheif
OpenImageIO
mingw-openexr
aom
ffmpeg

Install security update from vendor's website.

libheif - update to 1.23.0
libheif1 (Ubuntu package) - addressed in versions 1.20.2-1ubuntu0.6, 1.21.2-3ubuntu0.3
libheif-plugin-kvazaar (Ubuntu package) - addressed in versions 1.20.2-1ubuntu0.6, 1.21.2-3ubuntu0.3
libheif-plugin-j2kenc (Ubuntu package) - addressed in versions 1.20.2-1ubuntu0.6, 1.21.2-3ubuntu0.3
heif-thumbnailer (Ubuntu package) - addressed in versions 1.20.2-1ubuntu0.6, 1.21.2-3ubuntu0.3
libheif-plugin-libde265 (Ubuntu package) - addressed in versions 1.20.2-1ubuntu0.6, 1.21.2-3ubuntu0.3
libheif-plugin-svtenc (Ubuntu package) - addressed in versions 1.20.2-1ubuntu0.6, 1.21.2-3ubuntu0.3
libheif-plugin-jpegdec (Ubuntu package) - addressed in versions 1.20.2-1ubuntu0.6, 1.21.2-3ubuntu0.3
libheif-plugin-aomdec (Ubuntu package) - addressed in versions 1.20.2-1ubuntu0.6, 1.21.2-3ubuntu0.3
libheif-plugins-all (Ubuntu package) - addressed in versions 1.20.2-1ubuntu0.6, 1.21.2-3ubuntu0.3
libheif-plugin-dav1d (Ubuntu package) - addressed in versions 1.20.2-1ubuntu0.6, 1.21.2-3ubuntu0.3
libheif-plugin-jpegenc (Ubuntu package) - addressed in versions 1.20.2-1ubuntu0.6, 1.21.2-3ubuntu0.3
libheif-dev (Ubuntu package) - addressed in versions 1.20.2-1ubuntu0.6, 1.21.2-3ubuntu0.3
libheif-plugin-x265 (Ubuntu package) - addressed in versions 1.20.2-1ubuntu0.6, 1.21.2-3ubuntu0.3
libheif-plugin-aomenc (Ubuntu package) - addressed in versions 1.20.2-1ubuntu0.6, 1.21.2-3ubuntu0.3
libheif-plugin-ffmpegdec (Ubuntu package) - addressed in versions 1.20.2-1ubuntu0.6, 1.21.2-3ubuntu0.3
heif-gdk-pixbuf (Ubuntu package) - addressed in versions 1.20.2-1ubuntu0.6, 1.21.2-3ubuntu0.3
libheif-plugin-j2kdec (Ubuntu package) - addressed in versions 1.20.2-1ubuntu0.6, 1.21.2-3ubuntu0.3
libheif-plugin-rav1e (Ubuntu package) - addressed in versions 1.20.2-1ubuntu0.6, 1.21.2-3ubuntu0.3
libheif-examples (Ubuntu package) - addressed in versions 1.20.2-1ubuntu0.6, 1.21.2-3ubuntu0.3
heif-view (Ubuntu package) - addressed in versions 1.20.2-1ubuntu0.6, 1.21.2-3ubuntu0.3
xeve - update to 0.7.1-1.fc46
xevd - update to 0.8.0-1.fc46
openjph - update to 0.32.0-1.fc46
libheif - addressed in versions 1.23.5-3.el10_3, 1.23.5-3.el10_4, 1.23.6-3.fc46
OpenImageIO - update to 3.2.1.1-2.fc46
mingw-openexr - update to 3.4.15-2.fc46
aom - addressed in versions 3.13.3-1.el10_3, 3.13.3-1.el10_4
ffmpeg - update to 9.0.2-2.fc46

• https://github.com/strukturag/libheif/security/advisories/GHSA-jvmp-j3cw-84mh

• Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling in libheif
• Ubuntu update for libheif
• Fedora EPEL 10.4 update for aom, libheif
• Fedora EPEL 10.3 update for aom, libheif
• Fedora 46 update for OpenImageIO, ffmpeg, libheif, mingw-openexr, openjph, xevd, xeve