CVE-2023-39328 is a vulnerability identified in OpenJPEG version 2.5.0, an open-source JPEG 2000 codec widely used for image compression and decompression. This vulnerability is characterized as uncontrolled resource consumption, allowing an attacker to craft malicious JPEG 2000 files that bypass existing protections and cause the target application to crash. The flaw is similar in nature to CVE-2019-6988, indicating a recurring issue in how OpenJPEG handles certain malformed inputs. The vulnerability has a CVSS 3.1 base score of 5.5 (medium severity), with an attack vector of local (AV:L), low attack complexity (AC:L), no privileges required (PR:N), but requires user interaction (UI:R). The impact is limited to availability (A:H), with no confidentiality or integrity impact. Exploitation involves an attacker convincing a user to open or process a maliciously crafted JPEG 2000 file, which triggers excessive resource consumption, leading to application or service crashes (denial of service). There are no known exploits in the wild at the time of publication, and no patches have been linked yet. The vulnerability affects only version 2.5.0 of OpenJPEG, and the issue is currently published and tracked by Red Hat and the CVE database. The root cause lies in insufficient input validation or resource management when parsing JPEG 2000 files, allowing crafted files to consume excessive memory or CPU resources.

For European organizations, the primary impact of CVE-2023-39328 is denial of service due to application crashes when processing malicious JPEG 2000 files. This can disrupt critical workflows in sectors such as healthcare (medical imaging), media and publishing (image processing), government services, and any enterprise relying on OpenJPEG for image handling. The availability impact could lead to downtime of services, delayed processing, or failure of automated systems that handle large volumes of images. While the vulnerability does not compromise confidentiality or integrity, the disruption of availability can have cascading effects on business continuity and operational efficiency. Organizations processing untrusted image files or receiving files from external sources are at higher risk. The lack of known exploits reduces immediate threat but does not eliminate the risk of future exploitation, especially as the vulnerability is publicly known. European entities with strict uptime requirements or regulatory obligations around service availability should prioritize mitigation to avoid compliance issues and reputational damage.

1. Monitor for and apply official patches or updates to OpenJPEG as soon as they become available, especially upgrading from version 2.5.0 to a fixed release. 2. Implement strict input validation and filtering to block or quarantine suspicious JPEG 2000 files from untrusted sources before processing. 3. Use sandboxing or containerization to isolate image processing components, limiting the impact of crashes or resource exhaustion. 4. Employ resource limits (CPU, memory) on processes handling image decoding to prevent excessive consumption from malformed files. 5. Conduct regular security assessments and fuzz testing on image processing pipelines to detect similar vulnerabilities proactively. 6. Educate users about the risks of opening untrusted image files and enforce policies restricting file sources. 7. Monitor logs and system metrics for signs of resource exhaustion or crashes related to image processing applications. 8. Consider alternative libraries or tools with better security track records if timely patching is not feasible.