CVE-2026-16768
MEDIUM 5.3 PoC AVAILABLEA flaw was found in gdk-pixbuf. When parsing a specially crafted ICO file with pixel values that exceed the defined palette range, an out-of-bounds read can occur due to improper bounds checking against the actual palette size. This vulnerability causes heap bytes to be interpreted as valid palette indices and rendered as RGB pixel values in the output image, allowing an attacker to extract heap content via the generated output, such as a thumbnail.
Public exploit or PoC code exists. Modeled probability is still low, but the barrier to attack is reduced — watch closely.
Exploitation likelihood
0.2%chance of exploitation in 30 days · 15th percentile
Impact if exploited
5.3CVSS 3.1 · MEDIUM
- ConfidentialityLow
- IntegrityNone
- AvailabilityNone
What an attacker needs
- ✓Access: Reachable over the network — no local access needed
- ✓Privileges: No account or privileges required
- ✓User interaction: No user interaction needed
- ✓Complexity: No special conditions — reliably repeatable
✓ lowers the bar for an attacker · ⚠ raises it
Proof of concept & exploit code
- reference https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/gdk-pixbuf/-/issues/302
- github-search Search GitHub for public PoC repos
Test against your own equipment
curl -s https://vulnpedia.com/cve/CVE-2026-16768/poc.jsonMachine-readable PoC index for this CVE (for automation).Listed for defensive triage, patch verification, and authorized testing on systems you own. Machine-readable: /cve/CVE-2026-16768/poc.json
Affected
Products Gdk Pixbuf Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9
Weakness (CWE)
- CWE-125: Out-of-bounds Read
CVSS vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N
All CVSS metrics
- MEDIUM 5.3 v3.1 · CNA Primary
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N - MEDIUM 5.3 v3.1 · NVD Secondary
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N