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Pbm212030Application · Pbm212030 Project

CVE-2013-7438

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v2.0 Published 2015-03-29
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
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
Multiple buffer overflows in pbm212030 allow remote attackers to cause a denial of service (crash) or possibly execute arbitrary code via a crafted PBM image, related to (1) stream line data, which triggers a heap-based buffer overflow, or (2) vectors related to an "internal intermediate heap-based buffer."

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 · moderate confidence

A heap-based buffer overflow vulnerability exists in pbm212030, a PBM image processing utility. Remote attackers can exploit this by tricking the application into processing a specially crafted PBM image file, leading to denial of service or potential arbitrary code execution. The overflow occurs during stream line data processing and in internal intermediate buffer handling.

MitigationReplace or update the pbm212030 utility with a patched version if available, or implement strict input validation and bounds checking on PBM image data before processing to prevent heap overflows. If the component is unused, consider removing it to reduce attack surface.

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
Pbm212030Application
Affected:all versions

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. Locate the pbm212030 binary on the system
    Search common binary directories and the system PATH using 'which pbm212030', 'find /usr -name pbm212030 2>/dev/null', and 'find /opt -name pbm212030 2>/dev/null'. Also check any application-specific directories where image processing tools may be installed.
    Affected if The pbm212030 binary or executable file is found on the system.
  2. Identify processes or services using pbm212030
    Run 'ps aux | grep -i pbm212030' and 'ps aux | grep pbm' to find any running processes. Also check any web server logs, cron jobs, or application configurations that reference PBM image processing.
    Affected if A process or service is actively running or scheduled to execute pbm212030.
  3. Determine if untrusted PBM image input is accepted
    Review any application configurations, scripts, or services that accept image uploads or process PBM files from external sources. Look for file upload handlers, image conversion pipelines, or data ingestion workflows that process PBM format files.
    Affected if The system accepts PBM image files from untrusted or external sources for processing by pbm212030.
  4. Check for exposure to network or user-supplied PBM files
    Examine any web applications, APIs, file upload endpoints, or automated processing pipelines that handle PBM images. Review input validation mechanisms and verify whether PBM files from untrusted sources reach the pbm212030 utility.
    Affected if PBM image files from untrusted or remote sources can reach pbm212030 for processing.
  5. Review application logs for crash or heap corruption indicators
    Check system logs (/var/log/syslog, /var/log/messages), application logs, and any crash dump directories for evidence of pbm212030 crashes, heap corruption errors, or unexpected termination related to PBM file processing.
    Affected if Logs show crashes, heap errors, or abnormal termination of pbm212030 when processing PBM files.

The system is affected if the pbm212030 utility is installed and processes PBM images from untrusted or external sources, since all versions of this tool contain the heap overflow vulnerability.

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

Replace or update the pbm212030 utility with a patched version if available, or implement strict input validation and bounds checking on PBM image data before processing to prevent heap overflows. If the component is unused, consider removing it to reduce attack surface.

Fix this in Pbm212030 Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation6.0 h
  • Implementation12.0 h
  • Testing10.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
32.0 hours of engineering $5,580
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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-2013-7438 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
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