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LibpngApplication

CVE-2011-3048

MEDIUM · 6.8 CVSS v2.0 Published 2012-05-29
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
77/100
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
The png_set_text_2 function in pngset.c in libpng 1.0.x before 1.0.59, 1.2.x before 1.2.49, 1.4.x before 1.4.11, and 1.5.x before 1.5.10 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (crash) or execute arbitrary code via a crafted text chunk in a PNG image file, which triggers a memory allocation failure that is not properly handled, leading to 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

Heap overflow vulnerability in libpng's png_set_text_2 function caused by improper handling of memory allocation failure when processing crafted text chunks in PNG files. When memory allocation fails, the code does not properly handle the error, leading to heap corruption that can be exploited for denial of service or arbitrary code execution.

MitigationUpgrade libpng to version 1.0.59, 1.2.49, 1.4.11, 1.5.10 or later. Rebuild and redeploy all applications and services that link against the vulnerable library versions.

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
LibpngApplication
Affected:= 1.0.0= 1.0.1= 1.0.2= 1.0.3= 1.0.5= 1.0.6= 1.0.7= 1.0.8= 1.0.9= 1.0.10= 1.0.11= 1.0.12

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
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 checks

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

  1. Identify libpng library version
    On Linux: run 'dpkg -l | grep libpng' or 'rpm -qa | grep libpng' or check '/usr/lib/libpng*' file version. On Windows: right-click libpng*.dll, select Properties, view Version tab. Alternatively, use 'pngdump -v' or compile and run a simple program that calls png_libpng_ver.
    Affected if Version is 1.0.0 through 1.0.12 (or unpatched 1.2.x/1.4.x/1.5.x)
  2. Locate linked libpng libraries
    For running processes: run 'ldd <application>' or 'ldd <process_pid>' to see which libpng version is loaded. For binaries: use 'objdump -p binary | grep DLL' on Windows or check binary dependencies with 'readelf -d binary | grep png' on Linux.
    Affected if The application binary links to a vulnerable libpng version
  3. Identify applications using libpng
    Search for applications that process PNG images: run 'ldconfig -p | grep png' to list PNG-enabled applications, or scan /usr/bin/, /usr/sbin/ for image processing tools (e.g., ImageMagick, GIMP, browsers, graphics tools).
    Affected if Applications that handle PNG files are present and link to vulnerable libpng
  4. Confirm PNG text chunk processing
    Review application functionality: if the app loads, views, or processes PNG files, it may parse text chunks (e.g., tEXt, zTXt, iTXt chunks used for metadata). Check if the app has been observed loading untrusted PNG files.
    Affected if Application processes PNG files, especially from untrusted sources (web images, email attachments, user uploads)

You are affected if your system has libpng version 1.0.0-1.0.12 (or unpatched 1.2.x/1.4.x/1.5.x) and any application that handles PNG files is linked against it.

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
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Upgrade libpng to version 1.0.59, 1.2.49, 1.4.11, 1.5.10 or later. Rebuild and redeploy all applications and services that link against the vulnerable library versions.

Fix this in Libpng Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation6.0 h
  • Implementation12.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA3.0 h
27.0 hours of engineering $4,800
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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-2011-3048 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
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