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Debian LinuxOperating system · Debian

CVE-2015-8683

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.0 Published 2016-04-13
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
58/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
No privileges

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
The putcontig8bitCIELab function in tif_getimage.c in LibTIFF 4.0.6 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (out-of-bounds read) via a packed TIFF image.

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

An out-of-bounds read vulnerability exists in the putcontig8bitCIELab function in tif_getimage.c of LibTIFF 4.0.6. When processing a specially crafted packed TIFF image, the function reads beyond the allocated buffer boundaries, leading to a denial of service condition via memory access violation.

MitigationUpdate LibTIFF to version 4.0.7 or later which contains the fix for this vulnerability. If immediate patching is not feasible, implement input validation for TIFF images before processing and consider disabling CIELab color space support in untrusted contexts.

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
Debian LinuxOperating system
Affected:= 7.0= 8.0
LibtiffApplication
Affected:= 4.0.6

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
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
Required
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

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 installed LibTIFF version
    Run 'dpkg -l | grep libtiff' on Debian systems, or 'rpm -qa | grep libtiff' on RHEL-based systems, or check the library file with 'strings /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libtiff.so.5 | grep -i version' (adjust path as needed)
    Affected if The reported version is 4.0.6 exactly, or falls within the affected range without a fix applied
  2. Confirm the putcontig8bitCIELab function is present
    Check if the libtiff library contains the vulnerable function by running 'nm -D /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libtiff.so.5 2>/dev/null | grep putcontig8bitCIELab' (adjust library path for your system)
    Affected if The function symbol exists in the installed library, indicating the vulnerable code path is compiled in
  3. Identify applications using LibTIFF to process images
    Review which applications on the system link to libtiff (run 'ldd /path/to/application | grep tiff' for image viewers, converters, or graphics tools) or check for tools like 'tiffinfo', 'tiff2pdf', or image editors that process TIFF files
    Affected if Applications that process TIFF images are in use and could be invoked with a specially crafted CIELab-packed TIFF file
  4. Determine if CIELab color space TIFF processing occurs
    Examine typical TIFF workflows: check if users or automated systems process packed CIELab TIFF images (these are less common but were used in professional printing workflows); search for TIFF files on the system with 'find / -name "*.tif*" 2>/dev/null' and inspect a sample with 'tiffinfo -h sample.tif' to see color space
    Affected if The environment processes or may process packed CIELab TIFF images, which triggers the vulnerable code path in putcontig8bitCIELab

A system is affected if LibTIFF 4.0.6 is installed and applications process untrusted or specially crafted packed CIELab TIFF images, as this triggers the out-of-bounds read in putcontig8bitCIELab.

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

Update LibTIFF to version 4.0.7 or later which contains the fix for this vulnerability. If immediate patching is not feasible, implement input validation for TIFF images before processing and consider disabling CIELab color space support in untrusted contexts.

Fix this in Debian Linux Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
15.0 hours of engineering $2,580
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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-2015-8683 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

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What belongs here
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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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