Skip to main content
Live Webinar with SANS (June 25)— Agentic CTI Automation for Fun & ProfitRegister Free
Mallory
CriticalPublic exploit

Heap-based buffer overflow in OpenEXR deep scanline parsing

IdentifiersCVE-2023-5841CWE-122· Heap-based Buffer Overflow

CVE-2023-5841 is a heap-based buffer overflow in the Academy Software Foundation OpenEXR image parsing library affecting version 3.2.1 and earlier. The flaw is caused by failure to validate the number of scanline samples in an OpenEXR file containing deep scanline data. When a vulnerable parser processes a maliciously crafted OpenEXR image, incorrect sample-count handling can result in a heap buffer overflow during deep scanline image parsing. Apple also notes this as an open-source vulnerability affecting Apple software, where processing a maliciously crafted image may lead to denial of service. The issue was fixed upstream in OpenEXR 3.2.2 and 3.1.12.

Share:
For your environment

Are you exposed to this one?

Mallory correlates every CVE against your assets, your vendors, and active adversary campaigns. Know which vulnerabilities matter for you, not just which ones are loud.

ANALYST BRIEF

Impact, mitigation & remediation

What it means. What to do now. Patch path, mitigations, and the assume-compromise checklist.

Impact

What an attacker gets, and what they’ve been doing with it.

Successful exploitation can cause heap memory corruption and typically results in application crash or denial of service while parsing a crafted OpenEXR image. Given the heap-based buffer overflow condition, more severe impact such as potential arbitrary code execution may be possible depending on the consuming application, allocator behavior, and exploitability in the target environment; however, the provided content specifically confirms denial-of-service impact.

Mitigation

If you can’t patch tonight, do this now.

Until patched, avoid processing untrusted or externally supplied OpenEXR files, especially those containing deep scanline data. Where possible, disable or isolate OpenEXR parsing in exposed workflows, perform file-type and content validation before parsing, and sandbox image-processing components to reduce the impact of parser crashes or memory corruption.

Remediation

Patch, then assume compromise.

Upgrade the OpenEXR library to a fixed release. The provided content states the issue is resolved in OpenEXR v3.2.2 and v3.1.12. Downstream products that bundle or statically link vulnerable OpenEXR versions should update to builds incorporating one of these fixed versions.
PUBLIC EXPLOITS

Exploits

No public exploits tracked yet. Mallory keeps watching.

VALID 0 / 0 TOTALView more in app

No public exploit code observed for this vulnerability.

EXPOSURE SURFACE

Affected products & vendors

Products and vendors Mallory has correlated with this vulnerability. Open in Mallory to drill down to specific CPE configurations and version ranges.

VendorProductType
OpenexrOpenexrapplication

Vendor-confirmed product mapping. Mallory continuously reconciles this list against your asset inventory.

What this page doesn’t show

The version that knows your environment.

This page is what’s public. Mallory adds the parts that aren’t: which of your assets are affected, which adversaries are exploiting it right now, which detections to deploy, and what to do tonight.
Exposure mapping

Query your assets running an affected version, and investigate the blast radius.

Threat actor evidence

Every observed campaign linking this CVE to a named adversary.

Associated malware

Malware families riding this exploit, with evidence and IOCs.

Detection signatures

YARA, Sigma, Snort, and vendor rules, auto-deployed to your SIEM.

Vendor-by-vendor mapping

Cross-references every affected SKU, including bundled OEM variants.

Social activity

Community discussion across Reddit, Mastodon, and other social sources.