cfitsio vulnerability

CFITSIO through 4.7.0 contains a heap-based out-of-bounds read vulnerability in the imcompress.c unquantize helpers that allows attackers to read memory before the fits_rand_value table via a zero or negative ZDITHER0 seed. Attackers can supply a crafted FITS file with a SUBTRACTIVE_DITHER_1 compressed image, read through fits_open_file() and fits_read_pix(), to cause crashes or leak heap contents in decoded pixels.

Published 15 Oct 2026Updated 20 Oct 20267 sources
CVSS 6.9 ✓ VERIFIED REFERENCE

What happened

CFITSIO through 4.7.0 contains a heap-based out-of-bounds read vulnerability in the imcompress.c unquantize helpers that allows attackers to read memory before the fits_rand_value table via a zero or negative ZDITHER0 seed. Attackers can supply a crafted FITS file with a SUBTRACTIVE_DITHER_1 compressed image, read through fits_open_file() and fits_read_pix(), to cause crashes or leak heap contents in decoded pixels.

Affected versions

cfitsio: 0 through 4.7.0 (semver) Fixed: See vendor advisory.

Why it matters

Review the vendor advisory and exposure of the affected product to determine operational impact.

Detection & mitigation

  • Apply vendor-provided updates or mitigations.
  • Review affected product exposure and access logs.

Public PoC references

RepositoryAuthorFirst seenReference
hackmd.ioNVD reference2026-10-15Verified