GHSA-m54q-mm9w-fp6g — exiv2
Fix: Exiv2/exiv2#3335GHSA-m54q-mm9w-fp6g is a CWE-407 vulnerability in exiv2. No vendor fix is recorded yet; mitigation options are listed below.
Exiv2 has quadratic performance in ICC profile parsing in JpegBase::readMetadata
Exploitation Status
No confirmed exploitation observed yet
- CISA’s own triage has not observed active exploitation or public proof-of-concept code for this CVE as of its last assessment.
Exploitation and automatability from CISA’s SSVC triage for GHSA-m54q-mm9w-fp6g.
EPSS Exploitation Probability
EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) is a daily probability model maintained by FIRST.org. It estimates the likelihood a CVE will be exploited in production environments within the next 30 days, derived from real-world threat intelligence signals.
Real-World Exposure
exiv2Real-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects PyPI packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.
Description
Impact
A denial-of-service was found in Exiv2 version v0.28.5: a quadratic algorithm in the ICC profile parsing code in jpegBase::readMetadata() can cause Exiv2 to run for a long time. Exiv2 is a command-line utility and C++ library for reading, writing, deleting, and modifying the metadata of image files. The denial-of-service is triggered when Exiv2 is used to read the metadata of a crafted jpg image file.
Patches
The bug is fixed in version v0.28.6.
References
Issue: https://github.com/Exiv2/exiv2/issues/3333 Fixes: https://github.com/Exiv2/exiv2/pull/3335 (main branch), https://github.com/Exiv2/exiv2/pull/3345 (0.28.x branch)
For more information
Please see our security policy for information about Exiv2 security.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐍PyPI | exiv2 | all versions | No fix |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for exiv2, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Remediation status
No patched version of exiv2 has shipped for GHSA-m54q-mm9w-fp6g yet. Where your build allows, override or pin the dependency away from the vulnerable range, and apply any maintainer-recommended mitigation.
Mitigate without a patch
If you can't upgrade right away: gate or disable the affected feature, validate untrusted input at the boundary, and avoid passing attacker-controlled data into the vulnerable path. O3's runtime protection blocks exploitation in production as an interim safeguard until the upgrade lands.
How O3 protects you
O3 Security's impact-aware SCA analyses which vulnerable code paths your application actually calls, so a match like GHSA-m54q-mm9w-fp6g can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to GHSA-m54q-mm9w-fp6g. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.
Fixing This On Your OS
If you run this on a Linux distribution, patch through your package manager against the distro's own security advisory below — it tracks the exact backported fix for your release, which can ship on a different timeline (and sometimes a different severity) than the upstream project.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is GHSA-m54q-mm9w-fp6g in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds GHSA-m54q-mm9w-fp6g across PyPI dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.