Description
Uncontrolled recursion in DcmSequenceOfItems::read() and DcmItem::read() in the dcmdata library of OFFIS DCMTK 3.7.0 allows a remote, unauthenticated attacker to cause a denial of service (stack exhaustion and process crash) via a DICOM dataset containing deeply nested sequences (SQ elements). The dataset can be sent in a C-STORE request to storescp, dcmrecv, dcmqrscp, or any other DICOM service built on DCMTK, because the received dataset is parsed before any authentication takes place. Local tools such as dcmdump also crash when opening such a file. The issue is fixed in commit 885ff0f10372bd589b5f44cea974f28a3964cb0f, which adds a configurable sequence nesting depth limit (default 64).
Published: 2026-10-08
Score: 8.7 High
EPSS: n/a
KEV: No
Impact: n/a
Action: n/a
AI Analysis

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Remediation

Vendor Solution

Update to a DCMTK version that contains commit 885ff0f10372bd589b5f44cea974f28a3964cb0f. As of the publication date, no tagged release after DCMTK 3.7.0 includes this fix, so apply the commit or build from the current master branch.

Tracking

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Advisories

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History

Thu, 08 Oct 2026 13:00:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Description Uncontrolled recursion in DcmSequenceOfItems::read() and DcmItem::read() in the dcmdata library of OFFIS DCMTK 3.7.0 allows a remote, unauthenticated attacker to cause a denial of service (stack exhaustion and process crash) via a DICOM dataset containing deeply nested sequences (SQ elements). The dataset can be sent in a C-STORE request to storescp, dcmrecv, dcmqrscp, or any other DICOM service built on DCMTK, because the received dataset is parsed before any authentication takes place. Local tools such as dcmdump also crash when opening such a file. The issue is fixed in commit 885ff0f10372bd589b5f44cea974f28a3964cb0f, which adds a configurable sequence nesting depth limit (default 64).
Title Uncontrolled recursion in the DCMTK DICOM dataset parser allows unauthenticated remote denial of service
First Time appeared Offis
Offis dcmtk
Weaknesses CWE-674
CPEs cpe:2.3:a:offis:dcmtk:3.7.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
Vendors & Products Offis
Offis dcmtk
References
Metrics cvssV3_1

{'score': 7.5, 'vector': 'CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H'}

cvssV4_0

{'score': 8.7, 'vector': 'CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N'}


cve-icon MITRE

Status: PUBLISHED

Assigner: securin

Published:

Updated: 2026-10-08T14:10:35.420Z

Reserved: 2026-05-05T02:49:00.666Z

Link: CVE-2026-44031

cve-icon Vulnrichment

No data.

cve-icon NVD

Status : Received

Published: 2026-10-08T13:17:17.027

Modified: 2026-10-08T13:17:17.027

Link: CVE-2026-44031

cve-icon Redhat

No data.

cve-icon OpenCVE Enrichment

No data.

Weaknesses