CVE-2026-44036

Uncontrolled recursion in DCMTK xml2dcm allows denial of service

Published Oct 8, 2026 CVSS 4.0 · 6.8 Medium EPSS < 1% KEV · Not listed
Description
Uncontrolled mutual recursion between DcmXMLParseHelper::parseDataSet() and DcmXMLParseHelper::parseSequence() in the XML-to-DICOM converter (dcmdata/libdcxml/xml2dcm.cc) of OFFIS DCMTK 3.7.0 allows an attacker to cause a denial of service (stack exhaustion and process crash) via a crafted XML file with deeply nested sequence and item elements. The xml2dcm tool and any service that converts untrusted XML to DICOM with this code are affected. The issue is fixed in commit 87f256d73e30656a822bf7d76d1cf1d9bb693954.

Remediation

Vendor Solution

Update to a DCMTK version that contains commit 87f256d73e30656a822bf7d76d1cf1d9bb693954. 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

No advisories available
History
Type Values Removed Values Added
Metrics ssvc

{'options': {'Automatable': 'no', 'Exploitation': 'none', 'Technical Impact': 'partial'}, 'version': '2.0.3'}

Type Values Removed Values Added
Description Uncontrolled mutual recursion between DcmXMLParseHelper::parseDataSet() and DcmXMLParseHelper::parseSequence() in the XML-to-DICOM converter (dcmdata/libdcxml/xml2dcm.cc) of OFFIS DCMTK 3.7.0 allows an attacker to cause a denial of service (stack exhaustion and process crash) via a crafted XML file with deeply nested sequence and item elements. The xml2dcm tool and any service that converts untrusted XML to DICOM with this code are affected. The issue is fixed in commit 87f256d73e30656a822bf7d76d1cf1d9bb693954.
Title Uncontrolled recursion in DCMTK xml2dcm allows 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': 5.5, 'vector': 'CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H'}

cvssV4_0

{'score': 6.8, 'vector': 'CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:P/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N'}

Weaknesses

Sources

Status
PUBLISHED
Assigner
securin
Published
Updated
Oct 8, 2026, 5:33 PM
Reserved
May 5, 2026, 2:49 AM
Status
Awaiting Analysis
Published
Oct 8, 2026, 1:17 PM
Modified
Oct 8, 2026, 9:10 PM
Severity
Moderate
Public date
Oct 8, 2026, 12:55 PM