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CVE-2025-64506VulnerabilityPublished

CVE-2025-64506: 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
0.1% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 4% 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 >=1.6.0
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

European organizations should prioritize upgrading libpng to version 1.6.51 or later, where the vulnerability is patched. For environments where immediate upgrade is not feasible, implementing strict input validation and sanitization of PNG images before processing can reduce risk. Employ sandboxing or containerization for applications handling untrusted images to limit the impact of potential crashes. Monitoring application logs for abnormal terminations or errors related to PNG processing can help detect exploitation attempts. Additionally, restricting local user permissions and educating users about the risks of opening untrusted image files can mitigate exploitation likelihood. Security teams should integrate vulnerability scanning for libpng versions into their asset management and patching workflows. Where possible, use alternative image processing libraries with no known vulnerabilities until patches are applied. Finally, maintain regular backups and incident response plans to quickly recover from denial of service incidents.

Description

LIBPNG is a reference library for use in applications that read, create, and manipulate PNG (Portable Network Graphics) raster image files. From version 1.6.0 to before 1.6.51, a heap buffer over-read vulnerability exists in libpng's png_write_image_8bit function when processing 8-bit images through the simplified write API with convert_to_8bit enabled. The vulnerability affects 8-bit grayscale+alpha, RGB/RGBA, and images with incomplete row data. A conditional guard incorrectly allows 8-bit input to enter code expecting 16-bit input, causing reads up to 2 bytes beyond allocated buffer boundaries. This issue has been patched in version 1.6.51.

References

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