CVE-2025-48074
📋 TL;DR
OpenEXR 3.3.2 has a vulnerability where it trusts unvalidated dataWindow size values from file headers, allowing malicious EXR files to trigger excessive memory allocation. This can cause performance degradation or denial of service in applications processing these files. Anyone using OpenEXR 3.3.2 to parse EXR files is affected.
💻 Affected Systems
- OpenEXR
📦 What is this software?
Openexr by Openexr
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Application crashes or becomes unresponsive due to memory exhaustion when processing a malicious EXR file, potentially causing denial of service in critical image processing pipelines.
Likely Case
Performance degradation and increased memory usage when processing specially crafted EXR files, leading to slower processing times and potential application instability.
If Mitigated
With proper input validation and memory limits, the impact is limited to rejected files or controlled memory usage without system-wide effects.
🎯 Exploit Status
Proof of concept available in ShielderSec repository. Exploitation requires user or application to open a malicious EXR file.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: 3.3.3
Vendor Advisory: https://github.com/AcademySoftwareFoundation/openexr/security/advisories/GHSA-x22w-82jp-8rvf
Restart Required: No
Instructions:
1. Download OpenEXR 3.3.3 from official repository. 2. Compile and install following build instructions. 3. Recompile any applications using OpenEXR against the new version. 4. Test with sample EXR files to ensure compatibility.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Input validation wrapper
allImplement custom validation of dataWindow values before passing to OpenEXR
Implement bounds checking in application code before calling OpenEXR parsing functions
Memory limit enforcement
specificSet memory limits on processes that parse EXR files
ulimit -v [memory_limit_in_kb] for Linux/macOS
Set-ProcessMitigation for Windows
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Implement strict file type validation and only accept EXR files from trusted sources
- Run OpenEXR processes in isolated containers with memory limits
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check OpenEXR version: exrheader --version or check library version in applicationCheck Version:
exrheader --version 2>&1 | grep -i versionVerify Fix Applied:
Verify version is 3.3.3 or later and test with known malicious EXR files from PoC repository📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- High memory usage spikes during EXR file processing
- Application crashes or hangs when opening EXR files
- Failed EXR parsing with unusual error messages
Network Indicators:
- Unusual EXR file downloads from untrusted sources
- Large EXR files with suspicious metadata
SIEM Query:
process:memory_usage > threshold AND process_name:openexr_related OR file_extension:.exr AND file_size:unusual