Imager: Unsigned to Signed Conversion Error
CVE-2026-14454 is a critical-severity unsigned to signed conversion error vulnerability in Imager from TONYC, with a CVSS 3.1 base score of 9.8 out of 10. It can be exploited remotely over the network by an unauthenticated attacker, without any action from a user. The record lists version 1.033 as the first without the flaw, so updating Imager to that release or later removes the exposure. There is no confirmed exploitation so far. EPSS estimates a 0.66% chance of exploitation within 30 days, higher than 52% of scored CVEs.
Critical severity: a successful attack would have severe impact.
What to do
- Update Imager to 1.033 or a later version.
- Until you can update, restrict network access to the affected service so it is not reachable from untrusted networks.
Affected products and versions
Version data comes from the organisation that assigned the CVE. Confirm against the vendor advisory before deciding you are unaffected.
How the severity score breaks down
- Attack vector
- NetworkCan be exploited remotely over a network, including the internet.
- Attack complexity
- LowNo special conditions are needed; the attack works reliably.
- Privileges required
- NoneNo account or login is needed.
- User interaction
- NoneNo action by a victim is required.
- Scope
- UnchangedImpact stays within the vulnerable component.
- Confidentiality
- HighAll data handled by the component can be read.
- Integrity
- HighData or code can be modified at will.
- Availability
- HighThe component can be taken down completely.
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H. Scored by CISA (ADP).
Official description
Imager versions before 1.033 for Perl treat unsigned EXIF IFD entry counts as signed. Imager mishandled large EXIF IFD entry count values, treating them as negative numbers. This could lead to an attempt to allocate a block nearly the size of the address space, which fails and kills the process. An attacker could craft an image with EXIF data that terminates a worker process.
Source: the CVE record as published by its numbering authority, via NVD and CVE.org.
The underlying weakness: Unsigned to Signed Conversion Error
The product uses an unsigned primitive and performs a cast to a signed primitive, which can produce an unexpected value if the value of the unsigned primitive can not be represented using a signed primitive.
How developers prevent this class of flaw
- Choose a language which is not subject to these casting flaws.
- Design object accessor functions to implicitly check values for valid sizes. Ensure that all functions which will be used as a size are checked previous to use as a size. If the language permits, throw exceptions rather than using in-band errors.
- Error check the return values of all functions. Be aware of implicit casts made, and use unsigned variables for sizes if at all possible.
More Unsigned to Signed Conversion Error vulnerabilities (CWE-196)
Timeline
- CVE record published.
- CISA published its SSVC assessment (exploitation: none, automatable: yes, technical impact: total).
- Record last changed materially (score, affected products, status or references).
References
Patches and release notes
- github.com/tonycoz/imager/commit/06f01a5d0fd591259aeba589370d6888384a6b6d.patch
- metacpan.org/release/TONYC/Imager-1.033/changesRelease Notes
- openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2026/07/08/6Mailing List, Third Party Advisory
Other vulnerabilities in Imager
- 7.5 High severity
- 7.1 High severity
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