dbcve.org
LibexifApplication · Libexif Project

CVE-2012-2840

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v2.0 Published 2012-07-13
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 0.6.20 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
Off-by-one error in the exif_convert_utf16_to_utf8 function in exif-entry.c in the EXIF Tag Parsing Library (aka libexif) before 0.6.21 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service or possibly execute arbitrary code via crafted EXIF tags in an image.

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

An off-by-one buffer handling error in the exif_convert_utf16_to_utf8 function in libexif before version 0.6.21 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service or potentially achieve arbitrary code execution via crafted EXIF tags containing malicious UTF-16 encoded data in an image file.

MitigationUpgrade libexif to version 0.6.21 or later to patch the off-by-one vulnerability in the UTF-16 to UTF-8 conversion routine.

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
LibexifApplication
Affected:<= 0.6.20= 0.6.14= 0.6.15= 0.6.16= 0.6.18= 0.6.19

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. Identify installed libexif version
    Run 'pkg-config --modversion libexif' or check your package manager for libexif version (dpkg -l | grep libexif, rpm -q libexif, etc.)
    Affected if Version is 0.6.20 or lower, or matches 0.6.14, 0.6.15, 0.6.16, 0.6.18, or 0.6.19
  2. Locate libexif library file
    Find the shared library: 'find /usr -name 'libexif*' 2>/dev/null' and check its version info with 'file' or 'ls -la'
    Affected if The library file shows a version matching the vulnerable ranges listed above
  3. Determine if applications use libexif for EXIF parsing
    Check which applications on the system link to libexif: 'ldd <binary> | grep libexif' or 'ldconfig -p | grep libexif'
    Affected if Any application that parses EXIF metadata from images is using the library and could trigger the vulnerable conversion function when processing UTF-16 encoded EXIF tags

You are affected if libexif version 0.6.20 or lower is installed and any application uses it to process EXIF data from image 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 a release after 0.6.20
Interim mitigation

Upgrade libexif to version 0.6.21 or later to patch the off-by-one vulnerability in the UTF-16 to UTF-8 conversion routine.

Fix this in Libexif Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation3.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
10.0 hours of engineering $1,750
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,800.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2012-2840 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

Get it on GitHub Scan in the browser

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-2012-2840 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

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