Use-after-free in libheif - #VU153967
Published: October 8, 2026
Vulnerability identifier: #VU153967
CSH Severity: Medium
CVSS v4: 8.2 [CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N]
CVE-ID: N/A
CWE-ID: CWE-416
Exploitation vector: Remote access
Exploit availability:
No public exploit available
Vulnerability details
The vulnerability allows a remote attacker to cause a denial of service.
The vulnerability exists due to a heap use-after-free and double free caused by shallow copying ImageDescription::m_tai_timestamp in ImageItem::encode_to_bitstream_and_boxes() when re-encoding images with TAI timestamp metadata. A remote attacker can supply a crafted HEIF file containing an itai property to a service that decodes and re-encodes images to cause a denial of service.
The issue is also reachable through normal public API use by calling heif_image_set_tai_timestamp() followed by heif_context_encode_image(). No non-default configuration is required.
Affected software
libheif
Remediation
Install security update from vendor's website.
libheif - update to 1.23.5