CVE-2026-8814
Deferred Deferred - Pending Action
Improper Handling of Highly Compressed Data in ExifReader

Publication date: 2026-05-19

Last updated on: 2026-05-19

Assigner: Snyk

Description
Versions of the package exifreader before 4.39.0 are vulnerable to Improper Handling of Highly Compressed Data (Data Amplification) due to decompressing PNG zTXt metadata without enforcing a built-in maximum decompressed output size. When asynchronous parsing is enabled, a crafted PNG file containing a highly compressed zTXt chunk can cause ExifReader to materialize a disproportionately large Comment value in memory.
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Meta Information
Published
2026-05-19
Last Modified
2026-05-19
Generated
2026-06-10
AI Q&A
2026-05-19
EPSS Evaluated
2026-06-08
NVD
CVE-2026-8814
EUVD
EUVD-2026-30842
Affected Vendors & Products
Showing 1 associated CPE
Vendor Product Version / Range
mattiasw exifreader to 4.39.0 (exc)
Helpful Resources
Exploitability
CWE
CWE Icon
KEV
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CWE ID Description
CWE-409 The product does not handle or incorrectly handles a compressed input with a very high compression ratio that produces a large output.
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Executive Summary

This vulnerability affects versions of the exifreader package before 4.39.0. It involves improper handling of highly compressed data, specifically in PNG files containing zTXt metadata chunks. The package decompresses this metadata without enforcing a maximum decompressed output size, which can lead to data amplification.

When asynchronous parsing is enabled, a specially crafted PNG file with a highly compressed zTXt chunk can cause ExifReader to create an excessively large Comment value in memory, potentially leading to resource exhaustion.

Impact Analysis

The vulnerability can cause the exifreader package to consume a disproportionately large amount of memory when processing crafted PNG files. This data amplification can lead to resource exhaustion, which may result in application slowdowns, crashes, or denial of service.

Detection Guidance

Detection of this vulnerability involves identifying if your applications use the exifreader package with a version before 4.39.0, which is vulnerable to improper handling of highly compressed PNG zTXt metadata.

You can scan your project dependencies to check the version of exifreader in use. For example, if you are using npm, you can run the following command to check the installed version:

  • npm list exifreader

If you want to check for vulnerable versions across your codebase or dependencies, tools like Snyk can analyze your application and detect usage of vulnerable packages.

Currently, there are no specific network commands or signatures mentioned to detect exploitation attempts of this vulnerability.

Mitigation Strategies

The primary mitigation step is to upgrade the exifreader package to version 4.39.0 or later, where the vulnerability has been addressed.

Additionally, the package has introduced a maxDecompressedSize option to limit the size of decompressed metadata blocks, which can help prevent data amplification attacks.

If upgrading immediately is not possible, consider disabling asynchronous parsing or avoid processing untrusted PNG files containing zTXt chunks.

Compliance Impact

The provided information does not specify how the vulnerability in exifreader affects compliance with common standards and regulations such as GDPR or HIPAA.

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