CVE-2026-44034 Heap out-of-bounds read in DCMTK RLE decodeFrame()
An attacker can read adjacent heap memory or crash the application by providing a crafted DICOM file to the DCMTK library.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- Not needed
- Attackable
- Local or same network only
- Victim action needed
- A user has to click or open something
- Fix
- None listed
What is CVE-2026-44034?
CVE-2026-44034 is a medium-severity memory corruption vulnerability in OFFIS DCMTK, published on 8 Oct 2026. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.
Official description
A heap-based out-of-bounds read in DcmRLECodecDecoder::decodeFrame() in dcmdata/libsrc/dcrleccd.cc of OFFIS DCMTK 3.7.0 allows an attacker to read up to 63 bytes of adjacent heap memory, or cause a crash, via a crafted RLE Lossless DICOM file whose pixel data fragment is shorter than the 64-byte RLE header. The function copies 64 bytes without checking the fragment length, a check that the sibling function decode() already performs. Applications that decode RLE images frame by frame (for example, through DcmPixelData::getUncompressedFrame()) are affected. The dcmdrle command-line tool uses decode() and is not affected. The issue is fixed in commit 45469f3c30037e9c7159290e4bb74cd7b3b9ef1d.
Weakness: CWE-125
Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-44034?
How do I fix CVE-2026-44034?
No fix has been published for CVE-2026-44034 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.
Upgrade to the fixed version. Memory-safe languages, compiler hardening and fuzzing prevent most new cases. More about Memory corruption.
Is CVE-2026-44034 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-44034 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Sources
Also known as DEBIAN-CVE-2026-44034, GHSA-mmr5-x4mp-rpf4, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-44034.