CVE-2016-5317
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 · uneditedBuffer overflow in the PixarLogDecode function in libtiff.so in the PixarLogDecode function in libtiff 4.0.6 and earlier, as used in GNOME nautilus, allows attackers to cause a denial of service attack (crash) via a crafted TIFF file.
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 confidenceBuffer overflow in the PixarLogDecode function in libtiff.so allows denial of service (crash) when processing a crafted TIFF file. The vulnerability exists in libtiff versions 4.0.6 and earlier and affects applications like GNOME nautilus that link against this 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= 4.0.6= 13.1= 13.2= 42.1CVSS 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
- Required
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- None
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/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 versionRun 'tiffinfo -v' or check your package manager for libtiff version (e.g., 'dpkg -l libtiff*' on Debian, 'rpm -q libtiff' on RHEL-based systems, or 'zypper se libtiff' on SUSE)Affected if The installed version is 4.0.6 or earlier
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Confirm PixarLog encoding support in libtiffCheck if the libtiff build includes PixarLog support by examining the library symbols: 'nm -D /usr/lib/libtiff.so | grep PixarLogDecode' or check tiffinfo capabilities outputAffected if The PixarLogDecode symbol exists in the library, indicating the vulnerable function is present
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Identify applications linking to libtiffRun 'ldd /path/to/application | grep tiff' or 'ldconfig -p | grep tiff' to find binaries that link against libtiff. Common affected apps include file viewers like nautilus, eog, or any TIFF processing toolsAffected if Applications that process TIFF files are linked against a vulnerable libtiff version
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Check for TIFF files using PixarLog encodingUse 'tiffinfo <file.tiff>' to inspect a TIFF file's metadata. Look for 'PixarLog' in the compression field of the outputAffected if You process TIFF files that use PixarLog compression, which triggers the vulnerable PixarLogDecode code path
You are affected if your system has libtiff version 4.0.6 or earlier AND you have applications that process PixarLog-encoded TIFF files using the vulnerable library.
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 fix. Alternatively, ensure all applications using the vulnerable library are updated to use a patched version, or implement input validation to reject malformed PixarLog-encoded TIFF files before processing.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2016-5317 — 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-2016-5317 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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- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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