Vulnerability in LIBPNG (CVE-2026-25646)
Summary
Vulnerability in LIBPNG (CVE-2026-25646). Successful exploitation can lead to full system takeover. Mitigation: upgrade to 1.6.55 or later.
Original description
The description as published by the source.
LIBPNG is a reference library for use in applications that read, create, and manipulate PNG (Portable Network Graphics) raster image files. Prior to 1.6.55, an out-of-bounds read vulnerability exists in the png_set_quantize() API function. When the function is called with no histogram and the number of colors in the palette is more than twice the maximum supported by the user's display, certain palettes will cause the function to enter into an infinite loop that reads past the end of an internal heap-allocated buffer. The images that trigger this vulnerability are valid per the PNG specification. This vulnerability is fixed in 1.6.55.
Source: NIST National Vulnerability Database NVD
Auto-generated summary
Assembled by SecPulse from the source data (CVSS, CWE, affected versions) using templates — no AI involved. Check the original description and references below for exact details.
A vulnerability tracked as CVE-2026-25646 has been found in LIBPNG.
Successful exploitation can lead to full system takeover. CVSS score: 8.1/10.
What to do: upgrade LIBPNG to 1.6.55 or later.
If unsure, ask your IT team or search "LIBPNG CVE-2026-25646" on the vendor's site.
CVE-2026-25646 (LIBPNG) — CWE-122 / CVSS v3 8.1
Attack vector: remote (network-reachable) / unauthenticated / no user interaction
Patched: 1.6.55 — apply immediately
Plan: 1) Audit SBOM/dependencies, 2) Stage→prod upgrade, 3) Add WAF/proxy monitoring on affected endpoints, 4) Hunt IOCs in logs.
Refs: see the GHSA / vendor advisory / patched release linked on this page.
A vulnerability (CWE-122) exists in LIBPNG.
Check the vendor advisory for the affected versions of LIBPNG.
Severity: High (CVSS 8.1/10). Successful exploitation can lead to full system takeover.
Update to 1.6.55.
Until the patch is applied: disable the affected feature, apply WAF rules, or restrict access via network ACLs.
Search webserver/proxy logs for unusual request patterns matching this CVE's known IOCs. Run grep -r 'LIBPNG' . against your dependency files (package-lock.json, requirements.txt, go.sum) to find affected services.
Response actions
Concrete steps and command examples for SOC/SRE teams to execute in order
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1Identify exposure identify
grep -r 'LIBPNG' . | grep -v node_modulesリポジトリと本番環境の依存ファイル (package-lock.json / requirements.txt / go.sum / Gemfile.lock 等) で
LIBPNGを grep し、稼働しているサービス・バージョンを把握する。 -
2Apply patch patch
Upgrade LIBPNG to 1.6.55ステージング環境で 1.6.55 に上げて回帰テスト → 本番反映。回帰テストはアプリの主要ハッピーパスを含めること。
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3Post-deployment verification verify
Confirm patched version is live in productionパッチ適用後、ステージングで PoC または同等の悪用パターンを再現して脆弱性が閉じたことを確認。本番ではアクセスログ・WAF でアラート再発が無いか継続監視。
Fix status by distribution
Fixed packages published by each distribution for this CVE
- Alpine Linux ALPINE-CVE-2026-25646 libpng Fixed in: 1.6.55-r0
- Debian DEBIAN-CVE-2026-25646 libpng1.6 Fixed in: 1.6.37-3+deb11u2
- Ubuntu UBUNTU-CVE-2026-25646 libpng Fixed in: 1.2.50-1ubuntu2.14.04.3+esm1
References
- exploit github.com
- mailing openwall.com
- patch security-advisories@github.com
- web access.redhat.com
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