Heap-based Buffer Overflow Affecting libsixel package, versions *


Severity

Recommended
low

Based on default assessment until relevant scores are available.

Threat Intelligence

EPSS
0.22% (12th percentile)

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  • Snyk IDSNYK-ECHOLATEST-LIBSIXEL-21184810
  • published18 Oct 2026
  • disclosed14 Apr 2026

Introduced: 14 Apr 2026

CVE-2026-33020  (opens in a new tab)
CWE-122  (opens in a new tab)
CWE-190  (opens in a new tab)

How to fix?

There is no fixed version for Echo:latest libsixel.

NVD Description

Note: Versions mentioned in the description apply only to the upstream libsixel package and not the libsixel package as distributed by Echo. See How to fix? for Echo:latest relevant fixed versions and status.

libsixel is a SIXEL encoder/decoder implementation derived from kmiya's sixel. Versions 1.8.7 and prior contain an integer overflow which leads to a heap buffer overflow via sixel_frame_convert_to_rgb888() in frame.c, where allocation size and pointer offset computations for palettised images (PAL1, PAL2, PAL4) are performed using int arithmetic before casting to size_t. For images whose pixel count exceeds INT_MAX / 4, the overflow produces an undersized heap allocation for the conversion buffer and a negative pointer offset for the normalization sub-buffer, after which sixel_helper_normalize_pixelformat() writes the full image data starting from the invalid pointer, causing massive heap corruption confirmed by ASAN. An attacker providing a specially crafted large palettised PNG can corrupt the heap of the victim process, resulting in a reliable crash and potential arbitrary code execution. This issue has been fixed in version 1.8.7-r1.