GHSA-JXPF-XQ2M-Q525
Vulnerability from github – Published: 2026-04-22 22:09 – Updated: 2026-04-22 22:09Summary
OpenMcdf does not detect cycles in the directory entry red-black tree of a Compound File Binary (CFB) document. A crafted CFB file with a cycle in the LeftSiblingID / RightSiblingID chain causes Storage.EnumerateEntries() and Storage.OpenStream() to loop indefinitely, consuming the calling thread with no possibility of recovery via try/catch.
Details
CFB directory entries form a red-black tree linked by LeftSiblingID and RightSiblingID fields. OpenMcdf's DirectoryTreeEnumerator and DirectoryTree.TryGetDirectoryEntry traverse this tree without tracking visited node IDs, so a crafted cycle (e.g. entry A's RightSiblingID points to entry B, and entry B's LeftSiblingID points back to entry A) causes traversal to loop indefinitely.
Two distinct code paths are affected:
Storage.EnumerateEntries()-DirectoryTreeEnumerator.MoveNext()never returnsfalse; the same entry is yielded on every iteration and the caller'sforeachnever exits. Heap grows unboundedly as entries accumulate.Storage.OpenStream()-DirectoryTree.TryGetDirectoryEntryloops indefinitely insideDirectoryEntries.TryGetSiblingduring the name lookup.
PoC
A crafted CFB file with a sibling cycle (see attached) triggers the issue with the following code:
using OpenMcdf;
using var ms = new MemoryStream(File.ReadAllBytes("crafted.cfb"));
using var root = RootStorage.Open(ms);
// Never returns - EnumerateEntries loops indefinitely
foreach (var entry in root.EnumerateEntries())
{
Console.WriteLine(entry.Name);
if (entry.Type == EntryType.Stream)
root.OpenStream(entry.Name); // also hangs depending on the cycle structure
}
Impact
A denial of service affecting any application that opens untrusted CFB files with OpenMcdf. A small crafted input carrying a valid CFB magic header (D0 CF 11 E0 A1 B1 1A E1) is sufficient to pass initial format validation and reach the vulnerable traversal code. No exception is thrown, so try/catch cannot protect callers. The affected thread is unrecoverable without killing the process.
{
"affected": [
{
"package": {
"ecosystem": "NuGet",
"name": "OpenMcdf"
},
"ranges": [
{
"events": [
{
"introduced": "0"
},
{
"fixed": "3.1.3"
}
],
"type": "ECOSYSTEM"
}
]
}
],
"aliases": [
"CVE-2026-41511"
],
"database_specific": {
"cwe_ids": [
"CWE-835"
],
"github_reviewed": true,
"github_reviewed_at": "2026-04-22T22:09:01Z",
"nvd_published_at": null,
"severity": "MODERATE"
},
"details": "### Summary\nOpenMcdf does not detect cycles in the directory entry red-black tree of a Compound File Binary (CFB) document. A crafted CFB file with a cycle in the `LeftSiblingID` / `RightSiblingID` chain causes `Storage.EnumerateEntries()` and `Storage.OpenStream()` to loop indefinitely, consuming the calling thread with no possibility of recovery via `try/catch`.\n\n### Details\nCFB directory entries form a red-black tree linked by `LeftSiblingID` and `RightSiblingID` fields. OpenMcdf\u0027s `DirectoryTreeEnumerator` and `DirectoryTree.TryGetDirectoryEntry` traverse this tree without tracking visited node IDs, so a crafted cycle (e.g. entry A\u0027s `RightSiblingID` points to entry B, and entry B\u0027s `LeftSiblingID` points back to entry A) causes traversal to loop indefinitely.\n\nTwo distinct code paths are affected:\n\n- **`Storage.EnumerateEntries()`** - `DirectoryTreeEnumerator.MoveNext()` never returns `false`; the same entry is yielded on every iteration and the caller\u0027s `foreach` never exits. Heap grows unboundedly as entries accumulate.\n- **`Storage.OpenStream()`** - `DirectoryTree.TryGetDirectoryEntry` loops indefinitely inside `DirectoryEntries.TryGetSibling` during the name lookup.\n\n### PoC\nA crafted CFB file with a sibling cycle (see attached) triggers the issue with the following code:\n\n```csharp\nusing OpenMcdf;\n\nusing var ms = new MemoryStream(File.ReadAllBytes(\"crafted.cfb\"));\nusing var root = RootStorage.Open(ms);\n\n// Never returns - EnumerateEntries loops indefinitely\nforeach (var entry in root.EnumerateEntries())\n{\n Console.WriteLine(entry.Name);\n\n if (entry.Type == EntryType.Stream)\n root.OpenStream(entry.Name); // also hangs depending on the cycle structure\n}\n```\n\n### Impact\nA denial of service affecting any application that opens untrusted CFB files with OpenMcdf. A small crafted input carrying a valid CFB magic header (`D0 CF 11 E0 A1 B1 1A E1`) is sufficient to pass initial format validation and reach the vulnerable traversal code. No exception is thrown, so `try/catch` cannot protect callers. The affected thread is unrecoverable without killing the process.",
"id": "GHSA-jxpf-xq2m-q525",
"modified": "2026-04-22T22:09:01Z",
"published": "2026-04-22T22:09:01Z",
"references": [
{
"type": "WEB",
"url": "https://github.com/openmcdf/openmcdf/security/advisories/GHSA-jxpf-xq2m-q525"
},
{
"type": "WEB",
"url": "https://github.com/openmcdf/openmcdf/commit/24f445a557fc4f46461cf6d02d296cce16c293a0"
},
{
"type": "PACKAGE",
"url": "https://github.com/openmcdf/openmcdf"
},
{
"type": "WEB",
"url": "https://github.com/openmcdf/openmcdf/releases/tag/v3.1.3"
}
],
"schema_version": "1.4.0",
"severity": [
{
"score": "CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H",
"type": "CVSS_V3"
}
],
"summary": "OpenMcdf has an Infinite loop DoS via crafted CFB directory cycle"
}
Sightings
| Author | Source | Type | Date |
|---|
Nomenclature
- Seen: The vulnerability was mentioned, discussed, or observed by the user.
- Confirmed: The vulnerability has been validated from an analyst's perspective.
- Published Proof of Concept: A public proof of concept is available for this vulnerability.
- Exploited: The vulnerability was observed as exploited by the user who reported the sighting.
- Patched: The vulnerability was observed as successfully patched by the user who reported the sighting.
- Not exploited: The vulnerability was not observed as exploited by the user who reported the sighting.
- Not confirmed: The user expressed doubt about the validity of the vulnerability.
- Not patched: The vulnerability was not observed as successfully patched by the user who reported the sighting.