CVE-2006-4183
Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.
NVD · uneditedHeap-based buffer overflow in Microsoft DirectX SDK (February 2006) and probably earlier, including 9.0c End User Runtimes, allows context-dependent attackers to execute arbitrary code via a crafted Targa file with a run-length-encoding (RLE) compression that produces more data than expected when decoding.
Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.
dbcve analysis · high confidenceHeap-based buffer overflow in Microsoft DirectX's TGA file decoder when processing Run-Length Encoding (RLE) compressed images. The vulnerability exists because the RLE decompression logic fails to validate that decompressed data fits within the allocated buffer, allowing attackers to overwrite heap memory via specially crafted TGA files with malicious RLE compression that produces more data than expected.
Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.
Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.
NVD · CPE data= february_2006CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.
From the vector- Attack vector
- Network
- Complexity
- M
- Authentication
- None
- Confidentiality
- Partial
- Integrity
- Partial
- Availability
- Partial
AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P
Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.
dbcve checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify installed DirectX SDK versionCheck the system for Microsoft DirectX SDK February 2006 installation. On Windows, check Add/Remove Programs or examine the SDK installation directory (typically under C:\Program Files\Microsoft DirectX SDK) for version metadata. The February 2006 SDK release date is the key identifier.Affected if DirectX SDK February 2006 is installed and being used for development or content processing
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Determine if DirectX runtime is processing TGA filesIdentify applications or tools that utilize DirectX for rendering or decoding image files. Monitor or review which applications load or process TGA image files, particularly those using DirectX's texture loading functions.Affected if Applications using DirectX are loading or decoding TGA image files from untrusted sources
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Inspect TGA file processing code for RLE handlingIf you develop or maintain software that uses DirectX to load TGA files, review the code path that handles TGA format loading. Specifically examine the RLE decompression routine to see if bounds checking on the output buffer is performed before or during decompression.Affected if The TGA loading code handles RLE-compressed TGA files and lacks proper buffer size validation before writing decompressed data
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Verify heap integrity during TGA processingIf possible, run the application under a memory debugging tool (like Application Verifier or AddressSanitizer) while loading TGA files to detect heap corruption or buffer overflows occurring during RLE decompression.Affected if Heap corruption is detected when processing RLE-compressed TGA files, indicating the vulnerability may be triggered
A system is affected if it runs Microsoft DirectX SDK February 2006 or applications that rely on DirectX's TGA decoder to process RLE-compressed TGA files from untrusted sources without additional bounds checking.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.
From vendor dataUpdate or patch the affected DirectX SDK/runtime to a version that addresses this vulnerability. For legacy systems that cannot be updated, implement input validation to reject untrusted TGA files and consider application-level sandboxing to limit exposure.
- Consultation8.0 h
- Implementation16.0 h
- Testing12.0 h
- Review / QA6.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2006-4183 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2006-4183 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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