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Debian LinuxOperating system · Debian

CVE-2007-6353

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v2.0 Published 2007-12-20
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 0.16 or later.
See remediation →
84/100
Remediation priority · High
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

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 · unedited
Integer overflow in exif.cpp in exiv2 library allows context-dependent attackers to execute arbitrary code via a crafted EXIF file that triggers a heap-based buffer overflow.

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 confidence

Integer overflow in exif.cpp in the exiv2 library allows context-dependent attackers to execute arbitrary code via a crafted EXIF file that triggers a heap-based buffer overflow. The vulnerability stems from insufficient bounds checking when processing EXIF metadata, leading to memory corruption that can be exploited for code execution.

MitigationUpdate the exiv2 library to a version that includes bounds checking fixes for the integer overflow vulnerability. For systems that cannot update immediately, consider disabling EXIF metadata processing or sandboxing image parsing operations.

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
Debian LinuxOperating system
Affected:= 3.1= 4.0
Ubuntu LinuxOperating system
Affected:= 7.04= 7.10= 8.04
Exiv2Application
Affected:< 0.16

CVSS 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
Low
Authentication
None
Confidentiality
Partial
Integrity
Partial
Availability
Partial

AV:N/AC:L/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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Check if exiv2 is installed
    Run 'dpkg -l | grep exiv2' on Debian/Ubuntu systems, or 'rpm -qa | grep exiv2' on Red Hat-based systems. On any system, check for libexiv2 shared library with 'ldconfig -p | grep exiv2' or inspect the library file directly if present in /usr/lib/
    Affected if exiv2 package or libexiv2 library is present on the system
  2. Determine installed exiv2 version
    Run 'exiv2 --version' if the command-line tool is installed. For the library version, check with 'dpkg -l libexiv2' on Debian/Ubuntu, or examine the library file version with 'strings /usr/lib/libexiv2.so* | grep -i version' or check the soname with 'readelf -d /usr/lib/libexiv2.so*'
    Affected if version is present and less than 0.16, or version cannot be determined but exiv2 is installed on an affected OS
  3. Identify the host OS distribution and version
    Run 'cat /etc/lsb-release' on Ubuntu or 'cat /etc/debian_version' on Debian to confirm the OS. Check uname -a for kernel version. Confirm whether the system matches Debian 3.1, Debian 4.0, Ubuntu 7.04, Ubuntu 7.10, or Ubuntu 8.04
    Affected if OS is Debian 3.1, Debian 4.0, Ubuntu 7.04, Ubuntu 7.10, or Ubuntu 8.04 AND exiv2 is installed regardless of version, or if exiv2 version < 0.16 on any OS
  4. Verify if EXIF metadata processing is in use
    Identify applications that rely on exiv2 for image metadata parsing, such as graphics editors, photo managers, or web applications processing user-uploaded images. Check process list or application dependencies. Look for any automated EXIF extraction from untrusted image sources
    Affected if Any application uses exiv2 to process EXIF data from files that could originate from untrusted sources, which would trigger the vulnerable code path

The environment is affected if exiv2 version is below 0.16, or if exiv2 is installed on Debian 3.1/4.0 or Ubuntu 7.04/7.10/8.04 regardless of version, and the system processes EXIF metadata from potentially crafted files.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

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 data
Upgrade available Upgrade to 0.16 or later
Fixed in 0.16
Interim mitigation

Update the exiv2 library to a version that includes bounds checking fixes for the integer overflow vulnerability. For systems that cannot update immediately, consider disabling EXIF metadata processing or sandboxing image parsing operations.

Fix this in Debian Linux Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation6.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
20.0 hours of engineering $3,600
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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2007-6353 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data