CVE-2016-3633
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 · uneditedThe setrow function in the thumbnail tool in LibTIFF 4.0.6 and earlier allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (out-of-bounds read) via vectors related to the src variable.
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 confidenceOut-of-bounds read vulnerability in the setrow function of LibTIFF's thumbnail tool (versions 4.0.6 and earlier). The vulnerability stems from insufficient bounds checking on the src variable, allowing remote attackers to trigger an out-of-bounds memory read that causes a denial of service (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<= 4.0.6CVSS 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
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- None
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Check if LibTIFF is installedRun 'tiffinfo -version' or check for libtiff library files (e.g., libtiff.so on Linux, libtiff.dylib on macOS) in standard system library directoriesAffected if LibTIFF is not found or the command fails - the product may not be installed
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Identify the installed LibTIFF versionExecute 'tiffinfo -version' or use your system's package manager (dpkg -l libtiff*, rpm -q libtiff, brew list libtiff) to retrieve the installed version numberAffected if The returned version number is 4.0.6 or earlier (e.g., 4.0.6, 4.0.5, 4.0.4, etc.)
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Confirm the thumbnail tool is presentLocate the tiffcp, tiffcrop, or thumbnail-related utilities (the vulnerability is in the thumbnail functionality of LibTIFF) using 'which tiffcp' or checking the bin directory of your LibTIFF installationAffected if The thumbnail tool or related utilities are accessible and available for processing TIFF files
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Determine if untrusted TIFF files are processedReview application logs, file processing workflows, or system configurations to identify whether the system accepts or processes TIFF files from untrusted or external sourcesAffected if The system processes TIFF files from untrusted sources, which could trigger the vulnerable code path
You are affected if LibTIFF version 4.0.6 or earlier is installed AND the thumbnail tool or related TIFF processing utilities are accessible to process potentially untrusted TIFF files.
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 4.0.7 or later, which contains the patch for this vulnerability. If patching is not immediately feasible, restrict processing of untrusted TIFF files or disable the thumbnail tool functionality until the update can be applied.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation6.0 h
- Testing8.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2016-3633 — 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-2016-3633 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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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.
- 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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