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Ubuntu LinuxOperating system · Canonical

CVE-2015-4491

MEDIUM · 6.8 CVSS v2.0 Published 2015-08-16
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 2.31.4 or later.
See remediation →
77/100
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
Integer overflow in the make_filter_table function in pixops/pixops.c in gdk-pixbuf before 2.31.5, as used in Mozilla Firefox before 40.0 and Firefox ESR 38.x before 38.2 on Linux, Google Chrome on Linux, and other products, allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code or cause a denial of service (heap-based buffer overflow and application crash) via crafted bitmap dimensions that are mishandled during scaling.

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

Integer overflow in gdk-pixbuf's make_filter_table function allows attackers to trigger a heap-based buffer overflow by providing crafted bitmap dimensions that cause incorrect calculation of buffer sizes during image scaling operations, potentially enabling arbitrary code execution.

MitigationUpdate gdk-pixbuf to version 2.31.5 or later, which contains the fix for the integer overflow in dimension handling. For applications like Firefox or Chrome, ensure they link against a patched version of the library.

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
Ubuntu LinuxOperating system
Affected:= 12.04= 14.04= 15.04
FedoraOperating system
Affected:= 21= 22
Gdk PixbufApplication
Affected:<= 2.31.4
SolarisOperating system
Affected:= 10= 11.3
OpensuseOperating system
Affected:= 13.1= 13.2

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
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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Check if gdk-pixbuf library is installed
    Run 'dpkg -l | grep gdk-pixbuf' on Debian/Ubuntu, 'rpm -qa | grep gdk-pixbuf' on Fedora/RHEL, or 'pkg_info | grep gdk-pixbuf' on Solaris. Alternatively, check for the library file: 'ls /usr/lib/*/libgdk_pixbuf-2.0.so*' or 'ldconfig -p | grep gdk_pixbuf'.
    Affected if gdk-pixbuf is not installed at all, the system is not affected by this specific vulnerability in the library.
  2. Determine the installed gdk-pixbuf version
    Run 'dpkg -s libgdk-pixbuf2.0-dev' (Ubuntu), 'rpm -q gdk-pixbuf2' (Fedora), 'pkg_info -a | grep gdk-pixbuf' (Solaris), or check the library file version with 'strings /usr/lib/*/libgdk_pixbuf-2.0.so.0 | grep -i version' or 'gdk-pixbuf-csource --version'. Compare the version number against the affected range: versions <= 2.31.4 are vulnerable.
    Affected if The installed version is 2.31.4 or lower.
  3. Identify applications or processes using gdk-pixbuf for image scaling
    Review which applications on the system commonly link against gdk-pixbuf for image handling, such as image viewers, web browsers, or GTK-based applications. Check with 'ldd /path/to/binary | grep gdk_pixbuf' or 'lsof | grep gdk_pixbuf' for running processes using the library.
    Affected if Applications that perform image scaling operations using gdk-pixbuf are in use, and the library version is <= 2.31.4.
  4. Inspect if any user-supplied or remote images with unusual dimensions are being processed
    Check application logs, proxy logs, or file upload directories for image files that may have abnormally large or crafted width/height values in their headers. For web-serving applications, review access logs for image processing requests.
    Affected if There is evidence of image files with specially crafted dimensions being processed by a vulnerable version of gdk-pixbuf.

A system is affected if gdk-pixbuf version 2.31.4 or earlier is installed and any application uses it to scale images with user-controlled dimensions.

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 2.31.4
Interim mitigation

Update gdk-pixbuf to version 2.31.5 or later, which contains the fix for the integer overflow in dimension handling. For applications like Firefox or Chrome, ensure they link against a patched version of the library.

Fix this in Ubuntu Linux Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA3.0 h
15.0 hours of engineering $2,560
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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-2015-4491 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
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data