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PotraceApplication · Potrace Project

CVE-2016-8697

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_new function in bitmap.h in potrace before 1.13 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (divide-by-zero error and crash) via a crafted BMP 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 confidence

A divide-by-zero vulnerability exists in the bm_new function in bitmap.h in potrace versions before 1.13. When processing a crafted BMP image with specially crafted dimensions, the function attempts to divide by zero, causing the application to crash and resulting in a denial of service.

MitigationUpgrade potrace to version 1.13 or later. Alternatively, implement input validation in the bm_new function to verify bitmap dimensions are non-zero and within acceptable bounds before performing division operations.

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. Check if potrace is installed
    Run 'which potrace' or 'command -v potrace' to locate the potrace binary
    Affected if potrace is not found in the system PATH (not installed)
  2. Determine installed potrace version
    Run 'potrace --version' to display the version number
    Affected if The command returns no version or fails
  3. Compare version to affected range
    Compare your installed version to the affected range: versions 1.12 and below are vulnerable
    Affected if The installed version is 1.12 or any version lower than 1.13

If potrace version 1.12 or lower is installed, the divide-by-zero vulnerability in bm_new function is present and can be triggered by processing a specially crafted BMP image.

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. Alternatively, implement input validation in the bm_new function to verify bitmap dimensions are non-zero and within acceptable bounds before performing division operations.

Fix this in Potrace Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation1.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
6.0 hours of engineering $1,040
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,664.

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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-2016-8697 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