Global buffer out-of-bounds read in DCMTK JPEG Huffman decoding
Summary
| CVE | CVE-2026-44038 |
|---|---|
| State | PUBLISHED |
| Assigner | securin |
| Source Priority | CVE Program / NVD first with legacy fallback |
| Published | 2026-10-08 13:17:17 UTC |
| Updated | 2026-10-08 21:10:00 UTC |
| Description | A global out-of-bounds read in the Huffman decoder of the bundled IJG JPEG libraries (dcmjpeg/libijg8, libijg12 and libijg16) of OFFIS DCMTK 3.7.0 allows an attacker to read memory beyond the extend_test[] and extend_offset[] tables, causing incorrectly decoded pixel data or a crash, via a DICOM file with a crafted JPEG stream whose Huffman table defines a difference category above 15. Huffman symbol values are not range-checked unless DCMTK is built with DCMTK_ENABLE_STRICT_HUFFMAN_TABLE_CHECK, which is disabled by default. dcmdjpeg and any application that decompresses JPEG DICOM images with DCMTK are affected. The issue is fixed in commit d6ae1bc8d5b9ae9c7300013c8c85cc2ea0fd8cf5. |
Risk And Classification
Primary CVSS: v4.0 4.8 MEDIUM from 33c584b5-0579-4c06-b2a0-8d8329fcab9c
CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:P/VC:L/VI:N/VA:L/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X
EPSS: 0.001070000 probability, percentile 0.010750000 (date 2026-10-10)
Problem Types: CWE-125 | CWE-125 CWE-125 Out-of-bounds Read
| Version | Source | Type | Score | Severity | Vector |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4.0 | 33c584b5-0579-4c06-b2a0-8d8329fcab9c | Secondary | 4.8 | MEDIUM | CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:P/VC:L/VI:N/VA:L/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/C... |
| 4.0 | CNA | CVSS | 4.8 | MEDIUM | CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:P/VC:L/VI:N/VA:L/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N |
| 3.1 | 33c584b5-0579-4c06-b2a0-8d8329fcab9c | Secondary | 4.4 | MEDIUM | CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:L |
| 3.1 | CNA | CVSS | 4.4 | MEDIUM | CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:L |
CVSS v4.0 Breakdown
CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:P/VC:L/VI:N/VA:L/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X
CVSS v3.1 Breakdown
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:L
Vendor Declared Affected Products
References
| Reference | Source | Link | Tags |
|---|---|---|---|
| support.dcmtk.org/redmine/issues/1221 | 33c584b5-0579-4c06-b2a0-8d8329fcab9c | support.dcmtk.org | |
| github.com/DCMTK/dcmtk/commit/d6ae1bc8d5b9ae9c7300013c8c85cc2ea0fd8cf5 | 33c584b5-0579-4c06-b2a0-8d8329fcab9c | github.com | |
| CVE Program record | CVE.ORG | www.cve.org | canonical |
| NVD vulnerability detail | NVD | nvd.nist.gov | canonical, analysis |
Vendor Comments And Credit
Discovery Credit
CNA: Arjun Basnet from Securin (en)
Additional Advisory Data
| Source | Time | Event |
|---|---|---|
| CNA | 2026-05-25T00:00:00.000Z | CVE ID shared with the vendor |
| CNA | 2026-06-10T00:00:00.000Z | Fix committed by the vendor |
| CNA | 2026-06-19T00:00:00.000Z | Vendor approved publication |
Solutions
CNA: Update to a DCMTK version that contains commit d6ae1bc8d5b9ae9c7300013c8c85cc2ea0fd8cf5. As of the publication date, no tagged release after DCMTK 3.7.0 includes this fix, so apply the commit or build from the current master branch.