Null Pointer Dereference in iccDEV Causes Denial of Service

Executive Summary

CVE-2026-31792 is a high-severity vulnerability in the iccDEV package affecting versions prior to 2.3.1.5. It is caused by a null pointer dereference in the function CIccTagXmlStruct::ParseTag(), which leads to a segmentation fault or denial of service when processing specially crafted ICC profile XML data.

The vulnerability occurs because the code dereferences a children pointer without checking if it is valid, causing a crash when the pointer is null. This issue is related to buffer handling weaknesses such as buffer copy without size checking, stack-based buffer overflow, and out-of-bounds write.

The problem requires local access with low complexity and user interaction, and it impacts confidentiality, integrity, and availability at a high level. The vulnerability was fixed in version 2.3.1.5 by adding proper pointer validation before dereferencing.

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Detection Guidance

This vulnerability can be detected by attempting to reproduce the crash using a specially crafted XML file that triggers the null pointer dereference in the function CIccTagXmlStruct::ParseTag().

A known test involves using the iccFromXml command-line tool to process the crafted XML file named segv-CIccTagXmlStruct-ParseTag-IccTagXml_cpp-Line4738.xml, which causes a segmentation fault if the vulnerable version is present.

Runtime detection tools such as AddressSanitizer and UndefinedBehaviorSanitizer can be used to detect the null pointer dereference during execution.

• Run the command: iccFromXml segv-CIccTagXmlStruct-ParseTag-IccTagXml_cpp-Line4738.xml
• Use AddressSanitizer or UndefinedBehaviorSanitizer when building and running iccFromXml to catch null pointer dereferences.

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Mitigation Strategies

The immediate mitigation step is to upgrade the iccDEV package to version 2.3.1.5 or later, where the vulnerability has been fixed.

The fix involves adding checks to ensure pointers are valid before dereferencing them in the ParseTag() method, preventing the null pointer dereference.

No workarounds are provided, so upgrading is the recommended action.

• Update iccDEV to version 2.3.1.5 using your package manager or by downloading the fixed release.
• Avoid processing untrusted or malformed ICC profile XML files until the update is applied.

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Impact Analysis

This vulnerability can cause a denial of service by crashing applications that use the iccDEV library to process ICC profile XML data. The crash is due to a null pointer dereference, which leads to a segmentation fault.

Because it affects confidentiality, integrity, and availability at a high level, an attacker could potentially disrupt services or processes relying on iccDEV, causing application instability or downtime.

Exploitation requires local access with user interaction, but no special privileges are needed, making it a risk for users running vulnerable versions of iccDEV.

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Compliance Impact

I don't know

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