CVE-2012-4447
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 tif_pixarlog.c in LibTIFF before 4.0.3 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (application crash) and possibly execute arbitrary code via a crafted TIFF image using the PixarLog Compression format.
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 tif_pixarlog.c in LibTIFF prior to 4.0.3 when processing TIFF images using the PixarLog Compression format. A specially crafted malicious TIFF image can trigger the overflow on the heap, potentially allowing arbitrary code execution or causing application denial of service via crash.
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<= 4.0.2= 3.4= 3.5.1= 3.5.2= 3.5.3= 3.5.4= 3.5.5= 3.5.6= 3.5.7= 3.6.0= 3.6.1= 3.7.0CVSS 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
- 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 the installed LibTIFF versionUse the version flag with tiffinfo, tiffdump, or another LibTIFF utility (e.g., tiffinfo -v), or inspect the libtiff library file on your systemAffected if the version number is 4.0.2 or lower, or matches any of the affected 3.x releases (3.4, 3.5.1-3.5.7, 3.6.0-3.6.1, 3.7.0)
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Confirm the PixarLog codec is presentInspect the LibTIFF installation for the tif_pixarlog.c module or the compiled PixarLog compression supportAffected if the PixarLog compression codec is compiled into or loaded by your LibTIFF library
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Identify TIFF files using PixarLog compressionExamine TIFF images on the system using tiffinfo or similar tools to check the Compression field in the TIFF headerAffected if any TIFF files processed by your application use PixarLog compression (Compression tag value 32946)
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Determine if applications process untrusted TIFFsReview application logic or logs to see if user-supplied or network-supplied TIFF files are being decodedAffected if the system processes untrusted or external TIFF files that could contain PixarLog-compressed images
You are affected if your installed LibTIFF version falls within the vulnerable range and your environment processes TIFF images using PixarLog compression, as the overflow triggers during decompression of such images.
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 LibTIFF to version 4.0.3 or later to obtain the patch for this vulnerability. Alternatively, ensure untrusted TIFF files using PixarLog compression are not processed by vulnerable library versions.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2012-4447 — 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-2012-4447 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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