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LibtiffApplication · Remotesensing

CVE-2013-1961

HIGH · 9.3 CVSS v2.0 Published 2013-07-03
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 4.0.3 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
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
Stack-based buffer overflow in the t2p_write_pdf_page function in tiff2pdf in libtiff before 4.0.3 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (application crash) via a crafted image length and resolution in a TIFF image file.

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

Stack-based buffer overflow in libtiff's t2p_write_pdf_page function in tiff2pdf allows remote attackers to crash the application via crafted TIFF image files with malicious image length and resolution values. The vulnerability exists in libtiff versions prior to 4.0.3.

MitigationUpgrade libtiff to version 4.0.3 or later to patch the vulnerability. Validate and sanitize TIFF input files before processing, and restrict tiff2pdf processing to trusted sources.

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
LibtiffApplication
Affected:<= 4.0.3= 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= 3.7.0

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
Complete
Integrity
Complete
Availability
Complete

AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C

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 libtiff library version
    Run `tiffinfo -v` or `tiffinfo -version` to display the libtiff version. On Linux, also try `dpkg -l libtiff*` or `rpm -qa libtiff`. On Windows, check the file properties of the tiff DLL.
    Affected if The reported version is 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, 3.7.0, or any version less than 4.0.3.
  2. Verify tiff2pdf binary presence
    Run `which tiff2pdf` or locate the tiff2pdf executable on the system. This tool is required for the vulnerability to be exploitable.
    Affected if The tiff2pdf utility is installed and available on the system.
  3. Confirm tiff2pdf is used in your environment
    Search process logs, application code, or system scans for any usage of tiff2pdf or tiff2pdf-related libraries. Check if any applications process untrusted TIFF files.
    Affected if Your applications or workflows invoke tiff2pdf to convert TIFF images to PDF format.
  4. Identify applications linked to vulnerable libtiff
    Use `ldd $(which tiff2pdf)` to list shared library dependencies, or run `objdump -p /path/to/tiff2pdf | grep NEEDED` to see linked libraries. Check for libtiff.so references.
    Affected if tiff2pdf or any image processing application is linked against a vulnerable libtiff version.

You are affected if tiff2pdf is used and the libtiff library version is 3.4 through 3.7.x or any version prior to 4.0.3.

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.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to a release after 4.0.3
Interim mitigation

Upgrade libtiff to version 4.0.3 or later to patch the vulnerability. Validate and sanitize TIFF input files before processing, and restrict tiff2pdf processing to trusted sources.

Recommended fix High confidence

libtiff 4.0.3 or later

  1. Check the current version of libtiff installed (e.g., `rpm -q libtiff`, `dpkg -l libtiff`, or `tiffinfo -version`).
  2. Update libtiff to version 4.0.3 or later using your system's package manager (e.g., `yum update tiff`, `apt-get install libtiff4`, `zypper in tiff`).
  3. If the package is not available in your distribution's repositories, obtain the source from https://gitlab.com/libtiff/libtiff/releases and compile version 4.0.3 or later.
  4. Rebuild or restart any services or applications that link against libtiff (e.g., ImageMagick, GraphicsMagick, GIMP) to ensure they use the updated library.
  5. Verify the installed version (e.g., `tiffinfo -version`) shows 4.0.3 or higher.
Caveat Review release notes for any changes in TIFF handling that may affect legacy applications; most workflows should be unaffected.

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Libtiff Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
9.0 hours of engineering $1,570
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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-2013-1961 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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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