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CVE-2025-64505VulnerabilityPublished

CVE-2025-64505: pnggroup libpng · Out-of-bounds Read

Affects pnggroup libpngSource CVE Database V5

0

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 6.1 Medium : upgrade to 1.6.51 when convenient.

Data as of 25 Oct 2026, 19:02 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score
6.1Medium
How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.
EPSS
0.2% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 10% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.
Patch
Available – fixed in 1.6.51
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:H

Exploitation evidence

  1. Disclosed: evidence found.

    CVE published 24 Nov 2025

  2. Detectable: no evidence on record.

    No public nuclei template indexed

  3. Weaponised: no evidence on record.

    No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB

  4. Exploited in the wild: no evidence on record.

    Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation

  5. Observed by OffSeq Mirage: no evidence on record.

    No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors

A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 2026-10-25.

What to do

Upgrade pnggroup/libpng to 1.6.51.

Affected software

ProductAffectedFixed in
GitHubpnggroup/libpngpkg:github/pnggroup/libpngOther threatsAffected
  • <1.6.51
Fixed in
  • 1.6.51

Check your own hosts for these packages with threat-finder (opens in a new tab), our free open-source scanner.

AI-suggested

The primary mitigation is to upgrade libpng to version 1.6.51 or later, which contains the patch that properly validates palette indices to prevent out-of-bounds reads. Organizations should audit their software dependencies to identify any usage of vulnerable libpng versions and coordinate with software vendors to ensure updates are applied promptly. For applications that cannot immediately upgrade, implement input validation to reject PNG files with suspicious or malformed palette data. Employ sandboxing or containerization for image processing components to limit the impact of potential crashes. Monitor application logs and crash reports for anomalies related to PNG handling to detect exploitation attempts early. Educate users about the risks of opening untrusted image files and enforce policies restricting the use of images from unverified sources. In environments with automated image ingestion, implement file integrity checks and malware scanning to reduce exposure. Finally, maintain an incident response plan that includes handling denial of service scenarios caused by malformed image files.

Description

LIBPNG is a reference library for use in applications that read, create, and manipulate PNG (Portable Network Graphics) raster image files. Prior to version 1.6.51, a heap buffer over-read vulnerability exists in libpng's png_do_quantize function when processing PNG files with malformed palette indices. The vulnerability occurs when palette_lookup array bounds are not validated against externally-supplied image data, allowing an attacker to craft a PNG file with out-of-range palette indices that trigger out-of-bounds memory access. This issue has been patched in version 1.6.51.

References

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