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PotraceApplication · Potrace Project

CVE-2016-8696

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.0 Published 2017-01-31
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 1.12 or later.
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 bm_readbody_bmp function in bitmap_io.c in potrace before 1.13 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (NULL pointer dereference and crash) via a crafted BMP image, a different vulnerability than CVE-2016-8694 and CVE-2016-8695.

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

The bm_readbody_bmp function in potrace versions before 1.13 contains a NULL pointer dereference vulnerability when parsing specially crafted BMP image files, leading to a denial of service (application crash). The vulnerability is triggered during BMP file body parsing and differs from the related CVE-2016-8694 and CVE-2016-8695 issues.

MitigationUpgrade potrace to version 1.13 or later to obtain the patch for this vulnerability. Alternatively, implement strict input validation on BMP files before processing to reject malformed files that could trigger the NULL dereference.

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
PotraceApplication
Affected:<= 1.12

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. Verify potrace is installed
    Run 'which potrace' on Linux/macOS or 'where potrace' on Windows to locate the potrace binary
    Affected if potrace binary is found on the system
  2. Determine installed potrace version
    Run 'potrace --version' to display the version number
    Affected if Version displayed is 1.12 or lower
  3. Confirm BMP processing is in use
    Inspect logs, scripts, or workflows that invoke potrace to see if BMP image files are being processed as input
    Affected if BMP files are being processed through potrace using default settings

If potrace version 1.12 or lower is installed AND BMP files are being processed with potrace, the environment is affected by this vulnerability.

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
Upgrade available Upgrade to a release after 1.12
Interim mitigation

Upgrade potrace to version 1.13 or later to obtain the patch for this vulnerability. Alternatively, implement strict input validation on BMP files before processing to reject malformed files that could trigger the NULL dereference.

Fix this in Potrace Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation3.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
10.0 hours of engineering $1,750
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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-2016-8696 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

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.

What belongs here
  • 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
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data