libsixel is a SIXEL encoder/decoder implementation derived from kmiya's sixel. Versions 1.8.7 and prior contain an integer overflow which leads to a heap buffer overflow via sixel_frame_convert_to_rgb888() in frame.c, where allocation size and pointer offset computations for palettised images (PAL1, PAL2, PAL4) are performed using int arithmetic before casting to size_t. For images whose pixel count exceeds INT_MAX / 4, the overflow produces an undersized heap allocation for the conversion buffer and a negative pointer offset for the normalization sub-buffer, after which sixel_helper_normalize_pixelformat() writes the full image data starting from the invalid pointer, causing massive heap corruption confirmed by ASAN. An attacker providing a specially crafted large palettised PNG can corrupt the heap of the victim process, resulting in a reliable crash and potential arbitrary code execution.
This issue has been fixed in version 1.8.7-r1.

Project Subscriptions

Vendors Products
Saitoha Subscribe
Libsixel Subscribe
Advisories

No advisories yet.

Fixes

Solution

No solution given by the vendor.


Workaround

No workaround given by the vendor.

History

Wed, 15 Apr 2026 14:15:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Metrics ssvc

{'options': {'Automatable': 'no', 'Exploitation': 'poc', 'Technical Impact': 'total'}, 'version': '2.0.3'}


Wed, 15 Apr 2026 14:00:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
First Time appeared Saitoha
Saitoha libsixel
Vendors & Products Saitoha
Saitoha libsixel

Wed, 15 Apr 2026 12:15:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
References
Metrics threat_severity

None

threat_severity

Moderate


Tue, 14 Apr 2026 22:00:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Description libsixel is a SIXEL encoder/decoder implementation derived from kmiya's sixel. Versions 1.8.7 and prior contain an integer overflow which leads to a heap buffer overflow via sixel_frame_convert_to_rgb888() in frame.c, where allocation size and pointer offset computations for palettised images (PAL1, PAL2, PAL4) are performed using int arithmetic before casting to size_t. For images whose pixel count exceeds INT_MAX / 4, the overflow produces an undersized heap allocation for the conversion buffer and a negative pointer offset for the normalization sub-buffer, after which sixel_helper_normalize_pixelformat() writes the full image data starting from the invalid pointer, causing massive heap corruption confirmed by ASAN. An attacker providing a specially crafted large palettised PNG can corrupt the heap of the victim process, resulting in a reliable crash and potential arbitrary code execution. This issue has been fixed in version 1.8.7-r1.
Title libsixel: Integer Overflow in write_png_to_file() leads to Heap-based Buffer Overflow
Weaknesses CWE-122
CWE-190
References
Metrics cvssV3_1

{'score': 7.1, 'vector': 'CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:H'}


Projects

Sign in to view the affected projects.

cve-icon MITRE

Status: PUBLISHED

Assigner: GitHub_M

Published:

Updated: 2026-04-15T13:30:47.463Z

Reserved: 2026-03-17T17:22:14.667Z

Link: CVE-2026-33020

cve-icon Vulnrichment

Updated: 2026-04-15T13:30:37.462Z

cve-icon NVD

Status : Received

Published: 2026-04-14T22:16:30.543

Modified: 2026-04-15T14:16:15.307

Link: CVE-2026-33020

cve-icon Redhat

Severity : Moderate

Publid Date: 2026-04-14T21:53:00Z

Links: CVE-2026-33020 - Bugzilla

cve-icon OpenCVE Enrichment

Updated: 2026-04-15T14:31:57Z

Weaknesses