CVE-2025-48797 – This vulnerability in GIMP allows attackers to ... (How to Fix)

Q: What is the severity of CVE-2025-48797?

CVE-2025-48797 has a CVSS score of 7.3 (HIGH). This vulnerability in GIMP allows attackers to trigger heap buffer overflows by tricking users into opening specially crafted TGA image files. The flaw can lead to application crashes and potential arbitrary code execution. All users who open untrusted TGA files with vulnerable GIMP versions are affected.

📋 TL;DR

This vulnerability in GIMP allows attackers to trigger heap buffer overflows by tricking users into opening specially crafted TGA image files. The flaw can lead to application crashes and potential arbitrary code execution. All users who open untrusted TGA files with vulnerable GIMP versions are affected.

💻 Affected Systems

Products:

GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program)

Versions: Versions prior to the patched releases referenced in Red Hat advisories

Operating Systems: Linux, Windows, macOS

Default Config Vulnerable: ⚠️ Yes

Notes: All default configurations of GIMP that process TGA files are vulnerable. The vulnerability is triggered when opening malicious TGA files.

⚠️ Manual Verification Required

This CVE does not have specific version information in our database, so automatic vulnerability detection cannot determine if your system is affected.

Why? The CVE database entry doesn't specify which versions are vulnerable (no version ranges provided by the vendor/NVD).

🔒 Custom verification scripts are available for registered users. Sign up free to download automated test scripts.

Recommended Actions:

Review the CVE details at NVD
Check vendor security advisories for your specific version
Test if the vulnerability is exploitable in your environment
Consider updating to the latest version as a precaution

⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact

🔴

Worst Case

Remote code execution with the privileges of the user running GIMP, potentially leading to full system compromise.

🟠

Likely Case

Application crash (denial of service) when processing malicious TGA files, with potential for limited memory corruption.

🟢

If Mitigated

Application crash without code execution if memory protections like ASLR are enabled and properly configured.

🌐 Internet-Facing: LOW - GIMP is typically not an internet-facing service, though malicious files could be delivered via web downloads.

🏢 Internal Only: MEDIUM - Users opening untrusted TGA files from internal sources could trigger the vulnerability.

🎯 Exploit Status

Public PoC: ✅ No

Weaponized: UNKNOWN

Unauthenticated Exploit: ⚠️ Yes

Complexity: MEDIUM

Exploitation requires user interaction (opening a malicious file). The CWE-122 (Heap-based Buffer Overflow) suggests potential for code execution but requires specific memory layout conditions.

🛠️ Fix & Mitigation

✅ Official Fix

Patch Version: Check Red Hat advisories for specific patched versions (RHSA-2025:9162, RHSA-2025:9165, etc.)

Vendor Advisory: https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2025:9162

Restart Required: No

Instructions:

1. Update GIMP to the latest version from official repositories. 2. For Red Hat systems, apply relevant security updates using 'yum update gimp' or 'dnf update gimp'. 3. Verify the update was successful by checking the version.

🔧 Temporary Workarounds

Disable TGA file processing

all

Configure GIMP to not process TGA files by modifying file association settings

Use alternative image software for TGA files

all

Open TGA files with alternative image viewers that are not vulnerable

🧯 If You Can't Patch

Restrict user permissions to limit potential damage from code execution
Implement application whitelisting to prevent execution of unauthorized code

🔍 How to Verify

Check if Vulnerable:

Check GIMP version and compare against patched versions in Red Hat advisories

Check Version:

gimp --version

Verify Fix Applied:

Verify GIMP version is updated to a version mentioned in the Red Hat security advisories

📡 Detection & Monitoring

Log Indicators:

GIMP crash logs with memory access violations
Application error logs mentioning TGA file processing

Network Indicators:

Unusual downloads of TGA files followed by GIMP crashes

SIEM Query:

source="gimp.log" AND ("segmentation fault" OR "buffer overflow" OR "access violation")

📊 Metadata

CVE ID: CVE-2025-48797

CVSS v3 Score: 7.3 (HIGH)

CVSS Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

CWE: CWE-122

EPSS Score: 0.03% exploit probability (7.3th percentile)

Published: May 27, 2025

Last Updated: November 3, 2025

🔗 References

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