CVE-2012-4433
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 · uneditedMultiple integer overflows in operations/external/ppm-load.c in GEGL (Generic Graphics Library) 0.2.0 allow remote attackers to cause a denial of service (application crash) or possibly execute arbitrary code via a large (1) width or (2) height value in a Portable Pixel Map (ppm) image, which 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 confidenceInteger overflows in GEGL's PPM image loader allow attackers to trigger heap-based buffer overflows by crafting PPM files with excessively large width or height values. The overflow occurs when the multiplication of width/height dimensions exceeds integer limits, resulting in undersized buffer allocation and subsequent memory corruption.
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= 0.2.0CVSS 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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Check if GEGL library is installedRun 'pkg-config --modversion gegl' or use system package manager to query for gegl package (dpkg -l | grep gegl, rpm -qa | grep gegl, etc.)Affected if GEGL is not installed - the vulnerability does not apply; if installed, note the returned version for next check
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Verify GEGL version is 0.2.0Compare the installed GEGL version from previous step to version 0.2.0 exactlyAffected if Installed version equals 0.2.0 - this specific version is affected by CVE-2012-4433; versions other than 0.2.0 are not affected by this specific CVE
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Confirm PPM image loader is presentCheck for GEGL's PPM plugin by examining the GeglBuffer plugin directory (typically /usr/lib/gegl-0.2/plugins/ or similar path containing ppm-load.*)Affected if PPM loader plugin exists and is loadable - the vulnerable code path in ppm-load.c can be triggered when loading PPM files
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Identify if PPM files are processedAudit system or application logs, workflow documentation, or file processing patterns to determine if PPM format images are loaded by any GEGL-using applicationAffected if Applications or users process PPM files, particularly from external or untrusted sources - crafted PPM files with malicious dimensions could trigger the integer overflow
A system is affected only if GEGL version 0.2.0 is installed AND the PPM image loader is accessible AND the system processes PPM files that could be crafted with oversized dimensions to trigger the buffer overflow.
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 GEGL to a version that properly validates image dimensions before buffer allocation, or implement explicit integer overflow checks in ppm-load.c to reject width/height values that would cause allocation size overflows.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2012-4433 — 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-2012-4433 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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- 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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