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CVE-2026-33023 Detail

Description

libsixel is a SIXEL encoder/decoder implementation derived from kmiya's sixel. In versions 1.8.7 and prior, when built with the --with-gdk-pixbuf2 option, a use-after-free vulnerability exists in load_with_gdkpixbuf() in loader.c. The cleanup path manually frees the sixel_frame_t object and its internal buffers without consulting the reference count, even though the object was created via the refcounted constructor sixel_frame_new() and exposed to the public callback. A callback that calls sixel_frame_ref(frame) to retain a logically valid reference will hold a dangling pointer after sixel_helper_load_image_file() returns, and any subsequent access to the frame or its fields triggers a use-after-free confirmed by AddressSanitizer. The root cause is a consistency failure between two cleanup strategies in the same codebase: sixel_frame_unref() is used in load_with_builtin() but raw free() is used in load_with_gdkpixbuf(). An attacker supplying a crafted image to any application built against libsixel with gdk-pixbuf2 support can trigger this reliably, potentially leading to information disclosure, memory corruption, or code execution. This issue has been fixed in version 1.8.7-r1.


Metrics

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CVSS 4.0 Severity and Vector Strings:

NIST CVSS score
NIST: NVD
N/A
NVD assessment not yet provided.

References to Advisories, Solutions, and Tools

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URL Source(s) Tag(s)
https://github.com/saitoha/libsixel/releases/tag/v1.8.7-r1 GitHub, Inc.
https://github.com/saitoha/libsixel/security/advisories/GHSA-hr25-g2j6-qjw6 CISA-ADP, GitHub, Inc.

Weakness Enumeration

CWE-ID CWE Name Source
CWE-416 Use After Free GitHub, Inc.  

Change History

2 change records found show changes

Quick Info

CVE Dictionary Entry:
CVE-2026-33023
NVD Published Date:
04/14/2026
NVD Last Modified:
04/17/2026
Source:
GitHub, Inc.