FreeType Cache abuses
Alexei Podtelezhnikov <[email protected]> Thu, 16 Apr 2026 21:47:45 -0400
| Newsgroups | gmane.comp.fonts.freetype.devel |
|---|---|
| Message-ID | <CAJU=AjWzUyusu288cdCyT4QfWEt1CbNRORT4J=CMZszJF9UsRA@mail.gmail.com> |
Hi all We've recently received two reports with potential security implications when FreeType Cache is abused in very specific and unusual ways. https://gitlab.freedesktop.org/freetype/freetype/-/work_items/1401 https://gitlab.freedesktop.org/freetype/freetype/-/work_items/1418 In both cases, first the lookup functions are called to obtain the FTC_Node reference pointer as the last argument. Then the cache is forced to abandon and free the node leaving the dangling pointer. At last, the user triggers use-after-free. We can certainly provide some protections against these abuses but is it really worth it? Is it really FreeType's fault or the user's who actually triggers use-after-free at last? Werner will shortly lift the confidential flag. We would appreciate your feedback and assessment from the local security experts. Thank you Alexei