Vulnerability in libheif (UBUNTU-CVE-2026-41071)

Summary

Vulnerability in libheif (UBUNTU-CVE-2026-41071). Confidential information can be exposed externally. Mitigation: upgrade to 1.20.2-1ubuntu0.4 or later.

Original description

The description as published by the source.

libheif is a HEIF and AVIF file format decoder and encoder. In versions 1.21.2 and prior, a crafted HEIF sequence file where the saiz box declares more samples than actually exist in the track's chunk table causes a heap-buffer-overflow (out-of-bounds read) in the SampleAuxInfoReader constructor. The SampleAuxInfoReader constructor iterates over saiz->get_num_samples() samples but doesn't validate that this count is consistent with the number of chunks in the chunks vector. When saiz declares more samples than the chunks cover, the loop increments current_chunk past chunks.size(), causing an out-of-bounds read on the chunks vector. The vulnerability is triggered during file parsing (heif_context_read_from_file) without any additional user interaction. Any application using libheif to open untrusted HEIF files is affected. This issue has been fixed in version 1.22.0.

Source: OSV.dev (Open Source Vulnerabilities) OSV

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 UBUNTU-CVE-2026-41071 has been found in libheif.
Confidential information can be exposed externally.
What to do: upgrade libheif to 1.20.2-1ubuntu0.4 or later.
If unsure, ask your IT team or search "libheif UBUNTU-CVE-2026-41071" on the vendor's site.

UBUNTU-CVE-2026-41071 (libheif)
Attack vector: remote (network-reachable) / unauthenticated
Patched: 1.20.2-1ubuntu0.4 — 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.

❓ What is the problem

A vulnerability (unclassified) exists in libheif.

📍 Affected scope

Check the vendor advisory for the affected versions of libheif.

🔥 Severity

Severity: ?. Confidential information can be exposed externally.

🔧 How to fix

Update to 1.20.2-1ubuntu0.4.

🛡️ Workaround

Until the patch is applied: disable the affected feature, apply WAF rules, or restrict access via network ACLs.

🔍 Detection

Search webserver/proxy logs for unusual request patterns matching this CVE's known IOCs. Run grep -r 'libheif' . 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

1
Identify exposure identify
```
grep -r 'libheif' . | 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 libheif を grep し、稼働しているサービス・バージョンを把握する。
2
Apply patch patch
```
Upgrade libheif to 1.20.2-1ubuntu0.4
```
ステージング環境で 1.20.2-1ubuntu0.4 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。
3
Post-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

Ubuntu:Pro:18.04:LTS libheif

[{"type":"ECOSYSTEM","events":[{"introduced":"0"}]}]

Ubuntu:Pro:20.04:LTS libheif

[{"type":"ECOSYSTEM","events":[{"introduced":"0"}]}]

Ubuntu:Pro:22.04:LTS libheif

[{"type":"ECOSYSTEM","events":[{"introduced":"0"}]}]

Ubuntu:24.04:LTS libheif

[{"type":"ECOSYSTEM","events":[{"introduced":"0"}]}]

Ubuntu:25.10 libheif

[{"type":"ECOSYSTEM","events":[{"introduced":"0"},{"fixed":"1.20.2-1ubuntu0.4"}]}]

Ubuntu:26.04:LTS libheif

[{"type":"ECOSYSTEM","events":[{"introduced":"0"},{"fixed":"1.21.2-3ubuntu0.1"}]}]

References

advisory ubuntu.com
report ubuntu.com
report cve.org
report github.com
report github.com