CVE-2016-5321
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 DumpModeDecode function in libtiff 4.0.6 and earlier allows attackers to cause a denial of service (invalid read and crash) 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 · high confidenceA denial of service vulnerability exists in libtiff 4.0.6 and earlier in the DumpModeDecode function. Attackers can trigger an invalid memory read by providing a specially crafted TIFF image, causing the application to 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= 13.1<= 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
- 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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Check if libtiff is installedUse the system's package manager to query for libtiff. On RPM-based systems (e.g., SUSE, RHEL), run `rpm -qa | grep -i libtiff`. On Debian-based systems, run `dpkg -l | grep -i libtiff`. Alternatively, check for the library file (e.g., `ls /usr/lib/libtiff.so*`).Affected if libtiff package or library file is present on the system.
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Determine the installed version of libtiffOn RPM-based systems (including SUSE), run `rpm -q --queryformat "%{VERSION}" libtiff`. On Debian-based systems, run `dpkg -s libtiff | grep Version`. If the library file exists, you can also inspect its version with `objdump -p /usr/lib/libtiff.so.X | grep VERSION` (replace X with the actual version number from the library filename).Affected if version is 4.0.6 or earlier.
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Verify the version is within the affected rangeCompare the version obtained in the previous step to 4.0.6. If the version number is less than or equal to 4.0.6 (e.g., 4.0.5, 4.0.4, etc.), the installation is vulnerable.Affected if version <= 4.0.6.
The system is affected if libtiff version 4.0.6 or earlier is installed and the system processes TIFF images (especially untrusted ones).
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 dataUpgrade to libtiff version 4.0.7 or later where the vulnerability has been patched. As a defense-in-depth measure, validate and sanitize untrusted TIFF files before processing.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA3.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2016-5321 — 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-2016-5321 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
- No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
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