# CVE-2026-70653: libvips: Possible heap-based buffer read overflow when decoding a well-crafted RLE Radiance image

> A heap-based buffer read overflow in libvips allows attackers to disclose adjacent heap data via a crafted Radiance image.

- **Severity:** Medium 4.8 (`CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:L/VI:N/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 20 Aug 2026
- **Updated:** 21 Aug 2026
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2026-70653, GHSA-fh99-55jf-5hj3, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-70653

## What is CVE-2026-70653?

CVE-2026-70653 is a medium-severity vulnerability in libvips, published on 20 Aug 2026. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

libvips is a fast image processing library with low memory needs. Prior to version 8.18.3, the old-style Radiance RLE decoder in libvips/foreign/radiance.c can process a repeat marker at the beginning of a scanline in scanline_read_old and read q[-1] before any prior pixel exists. A crafted Radiance image loaded through VipsForeignLoadRad can therefore disclose four bytes of adjacent heap data, most likely other image data. This issue is fixed in version 8.18.3.

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

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-70653?


## How do I fix CVE-2026-70653?

Upgrade to a fixed version.

## Is CVE-2026-70653 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-70653 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-70653 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-70653 is a medium-severity vulnerability in libvips, published on 20 Aug 2026. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-70653 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: libvips. 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-2026-70653/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-70653/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-70653
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-70653
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-70653

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-70653/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.