Vulnerability in exifreader (CVE-2026-8814)
Summary
Vulnerability in exifreader (CVE-2026-8814). Risk of unauthorized operations or information disclosure. Exploitable via zTXt. Mitigation: upgrade to 4.39.0 or later.
Original description
The description as published by the source.
Versions of the package exifreader before 4.39.0 are vulnerable to Improper Handling of Highly Compressed Data (Data Amplification) due to decompressing PNG zTXt metadata without enforcing a built-in maximum decompressed output size. When asynchronous parsing is enabled, a crafted PNG file containing a highly compressed zTXt chunk can cause ExifReader to materialize a disproportionately large Comment value in memory.
Source: NIST National Vulnerability Database NVD GitHub Advisory
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-2026-8814 has been found in exifreader.
Attackers can target a specific entry point like zTXt over the network to misuse the product.
Risk of unauthorized operations or information disclosure. CVSS score: 5.3/10.
What to do: upgrade exifreader to 4.39.0 or later.
If unsure, ask your IT team or search "exifreader CVE-2026-8814" on the vendor's site.
CVE-2026-8814 (exifreader) — CWE-409 / CVSS v3 5.3
Attack vector: remote (network-reachable) / unauthenticated / no user interaction
Attack surface: zTXt / iTXt / iCCP / console.warn
Patched: 4.39.0 — apply immediately
Workaround: - If upgrading is not possible, avoid invoking the asynchronous API on untrusted inputs.
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-409) exists in exifreader. Attackers reach the vulnerable code path via zTXt without authentication.
Check the vendor advisory for the affected versions of exifreader. Attack surface: zTXt / iTXt / iCCP / console.warn.
Severity: Medium (CVSS 5.3/10). Risk of unauthorized operations or information disclosure.
Update to 4.39.0.
Workaround: - If upgrading is not possible, avoid invoking the asynchronous API on untrusted inputs.
Search webserver/proxy logs for unusual request patterns matching this CVE's known IOCs. Run grep -r 'exifreader' . 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
-
1Identify exposure identify
grep -r 'exifreader' . | 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
exifreaderを grep し、稼働しているサービス・バージョンを把握する。 -
2Apply temporary workaround mitigate
- If upgrading is not possible, avoid invoking the asynchronous API on untrusted inputs.パッチが適用されるまでの応急処置として、- If upgrading is not possible, avoid invoking the asynchronous API on untrusted inputs. を実施。回避策の副作用 (機能低下) を確認した上で。
-
3Apply patch patch
Upgrade exifreader to 4.39.0ステージング環境で 4.39.0 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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4Post-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。
Affected packages
References
- advisory nvd.nist.gov
- advisory github.com
- package github.com
- patch github.com
- web gist.github.com
- web security.snyk.io
- web github.com
- web github.com