CVE-2026-35444 SDL_image has a heap buffer overflow READ via unchecked colormap index in XCF loader
A heap buffer overflow in SDL_image's XCF loader allows attackers to read sensitive memory or crash the application via a crafted image file.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- Not needed
- Attackable
- Over the internet
- Victim action needed
- A user has to click or open something
- Fix
- Available
What is CVE-2026-35444?
CVE-2026-35444 is a high-severity memory corruption vulnerability in libsdl-org SDL_image, published on 6 Apr 2026. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.
Official description
SDL_image is a library to load images of various formats as SDL surfaces. In do_layer_surface() in src/IMG_xcf.c, pixel index values from decoded XCF tile data are used directly as colormap indices without validating them against the colormap size (cm_num). A crafted .xcf file with a small colormap and out-of-range pixel indices causes heap out-of-bounds reads of up to 762 bytes past the colormap allocation. Both IMAGE_INDEXED code paths are affected (bpp=1 and bpp=2). The leaked heap bytes are written into the output surface pixel data, making them potentially observable in the rendered image. This vulnerability is fixed with commit 996bf12888925932daace576e09c3053410896f8.
Weakness: CWE-125
Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-35444?
It affects 1 product.
Linux distribution packages (2)
SDL2_image openSUSE:Tumbleweed | All versions | 2.8.10-1.1 |
SDL3_image openSUSE:Tumbleweed | All versions | 3.4.2-1.1 |
Products include Libsdl Sdl Image.
How do I fix CVE-2026-35444?
Apply the vendor's patch.
Upgrade to the fixed version. Memory-safe languages, compiler hardening and fuzzing prevent most new cases. More about Memory corruption.
Is CVE-2026-35444 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-35444 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Other vulnerabilities in libsdl-org SDL_image
Sources
Also known as DEBIAN-CVE-2026-35444, GHSA-gq8w-x74c-h6p7, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-35444, openSUSE-SU-2026:10493-1, openSUSE-SU-2026:10494-1.