# CVE-2026-27168: SAIL: Heap-based Buffer Overflow in Sail-codecs-xwd

> Heap-based buffer overflow in SAIL library allows attackers to execute code or crash applications via malicious XWD image files.

- **Severity:** High 8.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 20 Feb 2026
- **Updated:** 25 Feb 2026
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2026-27168, GHSA-3g38-x2pj-mv55, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-27168

## What is CVE-2026-27168?

CVE-2026-27168 is a high-severity memory corruption vulnerability in HappySeaFox sail, published on 20 Feb 2026. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

SAIL is a cross-platform library for loading and saving images with support for animation, metadata, and ICC profiles. All versions are vulnerable to Heap-based Buffer Overflow through the XWD parser's use of the bytes_per_line value. The value os read directly from the file as the read size in io->strict_read(), and is never compared to the actual size of the destination buffer. An attacker can provide an XWD file with an arbitrarily large bytes_per_line, causing a massive write operation beyond the buffer heap allocated for the image pixels. The issue did not have a fix at the time of publication.

Weakness: CWE-122 (Heap-based Buffer Overflow)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-27168?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Sail Sail.

## How do I fix CVE-2026-27168?

No fix has been published for CVE-2026-27168 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2026-27168 being exploited?

It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2026-27168 exists.

## Other vulnerabilities in HappySeaFox sail

- [CVE-2025-32468](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-32468/): Integer overflow in SAIL Image Decoding Library (high 8.8)
- [CVE-2025-35984](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-35984/): Memory corruption in SAIL Image Decoding Library (high 8.8)
- [CVE-2025-46407](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-46407/): Integer overflow in SAIL Image Decoding Library (high 8.8)
- [CVE-2025-50129](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-50129/): Memory corruption in SAIL Image Decoding Library (high 8.8)
- [CVE-2025-52456](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-52456/): Integer overflow in SAIL Image Decoding Library (high 8.8)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-27168 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-27168 is a high-severity memory corruption vulnerability in HappySeaFox sail, published on 20 Feb 2026. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2026-27168 exists.

Affected product: HappySeaFox sail. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-27168/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-27168/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-27168
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-27168
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-27168

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-27168/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.