jxl-oxide: Heap-based Buffer Overflow
CVE-2026-52834 is a high-severity heap-based buffer overflow vulnerability in jxl-oxide from Tirr-c, with a CVSS 3.1 base score of 7.3 out of 10. It can be exploited with local access to the system by an unauthenticated attacker, without any action from a user. Affected jxl-oxide versions: < 0.12.6. The record does not name a fixed version, so check the vendor advisory. There is no confirmed exploitation so far. EPSS estimates a 0.17% chance of exploitation within 30 days, which is low compared with other CVEs.
High severity with no evidence of exploitation so far.
What to do
- Check which version of jxl-oxide you run against the affected versions below, and install the vendor's latest release.
- Read the advisory on github.com for workarounds and exact fixed builds.
Affected products and versions
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tirr-c | jxl-oxide | < 0.12.6 | Not stated |
| Tirr-c | jxl-grid | < 0.6.2 | Not stated |
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
- LocalThe attacker needs local access or must trick a user into running something.
- Attack complexity
- HighSuccess depends on conditions outside the attacker's control.
- Privileges required
- NoneNo account or login is needed.
- User interaction
- NoneNo action by a victim is required.
- Scope
- ChangedThe attack can reach beyond the vulnerable component into other systems.
- Confidentiality
- LowSome restricted data can be read.
- Integrity
- LowLimited modification of data is possible.
- Availability
- HighThe component can be taken down completely.
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:H. Scored by CNA (github.com).
Official description
jxl-oxide is a pure Rust implementation of a JPEG XL decoder. Prior to jxl-grid 0.6.2, decoding a crafted JPEG XL image on a 32-bit platform can overflow length calculations in AlignedGrid::with_alloc_tracker and related grid and subgrid arithmetic. A 65536 x 65536 frame can pass the frame-area limit while overflowing the usize element count, causing modular, VarDCT, or filter rendering paths to allocate a backing buffer smaller than the logical grid. A tiny bitstream-controlled cropped frame combined with a huge canvas or requested region can also reach the vulnerable composition path in crates/jxl-render/src/blend.rs through ordinary render_frame(). Later mutable subgrid and raw-pointer operations can then perform attacker-controlled out-of-bounds writes, causing memory corruption, denial of service, or arbitrary code execution. This issue is fixed in jxl-grid version 0.6.2.
Source: the CVE record as published by its numbering authority, via NVD and CVE.org.
The underlying weakness: Heap-based Buffer Overflow
The product writes past the end of a buffer that was allocated on the heap.
How developers prevent this class of flaw
- Pre-design: Use a language or compiler that performs automatic bounds checking.
- Use an abstraction library to abstract away risky APIs. Not a complete solution.
- Use automatic buffer overflow detection mechanisms that are offered by certain compilers or compiler extensions. Examples include: the Microsoft Visual Studio /GS flag, Fedora/Red Hat FORTIFY_SOURCE GCC flag, StackGuard, and ProPolice, which provide various mechanisms including canary-based detection and range/index checking. D3-SFCV (Stack Frame Canary Validation) from D3FEND discusses canary-based detection in detail.
Timeline
- CVE record published.
- CISA published its SSVC assessment (exploitation: none, automatable: no, technical impact: partial).
- Record last changed materially (score, affected products, status or references).
References
Patches and release notes
Other references
Recent Heap-based Buffer Overflow vulnerabilities
- 9.8 Critical severity
- 9.8 Critical severity
- 8.8 High severity
- 9.8 Critical severity
- 7.8 High severity
- 9.8 Critical severity
Spotted an error? Tell us.