Debian LinuxOperating system · Debian
CVE-2016-5315
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 setByteArray function in tif_dir.c in libtiff 4.0.6 and earlier allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (out-of-bounds read) via a crafted 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 · moderate confidenceA buffer over-read vulnerability exists in the setByteArray function in tif_dir.c in libtiff 4.0.6 and earlier. When processing a specially crafted TIFF image, the function performs an out-of-bounds read beyond the allocated buffer boundary, causing a denial of service condition.
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
= 8.0<= 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
- 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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify installed libtiff tools or librariesRun commands such as 'dpkg -l | grep libtiff' on Debian-based systems, 'rpm -qa | grep libtiff' on RHEL-based systems, or search for tiff-related binaries like tiffinfo, tiff2pdf, tiffcp in common bin directoriesAffected if libtiff packages or tools are found with version 4.0.6 or lower
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Check libtiff library version directlyUse 'ldd' on any tiff tool to see linked libtiff version, or run 'tiffinfo -version' or 'tiff2pdf -v' if those tools are installedAffected if The reported version is 4.0.6 or any version <= 4.0.6
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Identify applications that use libtiffRun 'ldconfig -p | grep tiff' to list programs that link against libtiff, or check running processes that handle image filesAffected if Any application that processes TIFF images is present and linked to a vulnerable libtiff version
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Verify TIFF processing capabilityAttempt to process a benign TIFF file using available tools like tiffinfo or tiff2pdf to confirm libtiff functionality is accessibleAffected if TIFF files can be processed by tools linked to a libtiff version <= 4.0.6
A system is affected if it runs any version of libtiff at or below 4.0.6 that is actively used to process TIFF images.
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 a version newer than 4.0.6 that contains the fix. Implement input validation on TIFF files before processing and consider sandboxing TIFF processing to limit the impact of exploitation.
Fix this in Debian Linux
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,328.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2016-5315 — 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-2016-5315 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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- Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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