CVE-2026-8916: Out-of-Bounds Write in Samsung rlottie Animation Library

Technical summary

CVE-2026-8916 is an out-of-bounds write vulnerability (CWE-787) in Samsung Open Source rlottie prior to commit dcfde72eae1b0464dc0dd760aec00ada6a148635. The flaw permits an attacker to write data past the end of a buffer, which can result in heap or stack corruption depending on memory layout and the specific code path. The attack vector is local, requires no special privileges, and necessitates user interaction—typically rendering a specially crafted Lottie animation file. The CVSS 3.1 score of 6.1 (Medium) reflects limited confidentiality impact but high availability risk and integrity concerns.

Business impact

Applications integrating rlottie for animation rendering—including mobile apps, embedded systems, and desktop software—are at risk. A successful exploit leads to denial of service through application crashes, but the integrity impact (memory corruption) could theoretically enable further exploitation chains if combined with other vulnerabilities. Organizations shipping rlottie should prioritize inventory and update cycles; end-user impact is generally contained to individual application instances rather than system-wide compromise unless rlottie is deeply embedded in system services.

Affected systems

Any software or system that depends on rlottie (Samsung's open-source Lottie animation library) versions prior to commit dcfde72eae1b0464dc0dd760aec00ada6a148635 is affected. This includes but is not limited to mobile applications, animation-heavy desktop software, web-based rendering systems, and embedded devices that use rlottie as a rendering backend. Applications statically linking rlottie or shipping it as a bundled dependency require explicit updates; dynamically linked deployments may be patched more easily if the system library is upgraded.

Exploitability

Exploitation requires local system access and user interaction—specifically, convincing a user to open or process a maliciously crafted Lottie animation file with the vulnerable rlottie library. There is no remote exploitation path and no privilege escalation requirement. The barrier to exploitation is moderate: an attacker must craft a valid (but malicious) animation file and deliver it through normal channels. The vulnerability is not currently tracked in CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog, suggesting active in-the-wild exploitation has not been widely reported as of the published date.

Remediation

Developers and vendors must update rlottie to a version incorporating commit dcfde72eae1b0464dc0dd760aec00ada6a148635 or later. Organizations distributing rlottie-dependent software should identify all affected versions in their supply chain, prioritize updates, and coordinate testing before rollout. For systems where immediate patching is not feasible, disable or restrict animation rendering features, or implement strict file validation and sandboxing around rlottie processing.

Patch guidance

Verify your rlottie version against the repository history at the specified commit hash (dcfde72eae1b0464dc0dd760aec00ada6a148635). If your application vendors rlottie, update to the latest release that incorporates this fix or later. If you statically link rlottie, rebuild your application against the patched library. For dynamic linking, ensure the system or bundled rlottie library is updated. Check vendor advisories for your application—if it uses rlottie, request or check for patched builds. Testing should focus on verifying that animation rendering with untrusted inputs does not crash or exhibit undefined behavior.

Detection guidance

Monitor for application crashes or memory violations (segmentation faults, access violations) when processing animation files, especially Lottie JSON or binary animation assets. Implement logging and telemetry to capture rlottie rendering failures. In development and test environments, use memory sanitizers (AddressSanitizer, Valgrind) to detect out-of-bounds writes during animation rendering. On production systems, enable core dumps and crash reporting to catch unhandled exceptions. Look for suspicious animation file sources or delivery mechanisms that may indicate attack attempts.

Why prioritize this

Although this vulnerability carries a CVSS score of 6.1 (Medium), it should be actively tracked in patch cycles because: (1) it affects a widely-used open-source library with diverse downstream consumers; (2) availability impact is high (reliable crash); (3) memory corruption can seed follow-on attacks if combined with information disclosure or privilege escalation flaws; and (4) remediation is straightforward (update to patched version). Organizations with rlottie in their supply chain should prioritize this within their normal maintenance windows; those with rlottie in user-facing or service-critical paths should accelerate patching.

Risk score, explained

The CVSS 3.1 score of 6.1 reflects: Attack Vector (Local) and Attack Complexity (Low)—a user need only interact with a malicious file, not perform complex multi-step exploitation. Privileges Required (None) and User Interaction (Required) place the barrier at the user decision level rather than technical exploitation. Scope (Unchanged) means no privilege boundary crossing occurs. Confidentiality impact (None) indicates no unauthorized data access. Integrity (Low) and Availability (High) capture the memory corruption and crash outcomes. The Medium severity appropriately reflects that while remote exploitation is not possible and confidentiality is not at immediate risk, the guaranteed ability to crash the application and corrupt memory justifies urgent but not critical prioritization.

Frequently asked questions