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PotraceApplication · Potrace Project

CVE-2016-8698

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.0 Published 2017-01-31
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 1.12 or later.
See remediation →
81/100
Remediation priority · High
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
Heap-based buffer overflow in the bm_readbody_bmp function in bitmap_io.c in potrace before 1.13 allows remote attackers to have unspecified impact via a crafted BMP image, a different vulnerability than CVE-2016-8699, CVE-2016-8700, CVE-2016-8701, CVE-2016-8702, and CVE-2016-8703.

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

Heap-based buffer overflow in the bm_readbody_bmp function in bitmap_io.c of potrace (image tracing library) prior to version 1.13. Processing a specially crafted BMP file triggers overflow of a heap-allocated buffer, potentially allowing remote code execution.

MitigationUpgrade potrace to version 1.13 or later. Until upgraded, avoid processing untrusted or unknown BMP files with potrace-based applications.

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
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/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. Identify if potrace is installed
    Check common installation paths: run 'which potrace' or look for /usr/bin/potrace, /usr/local/bin/potrace, or search for potrace binary in standard locations
    Affected if potrace binary exists on the system
  2. Determine potrace version
    Run 'potrace --version' or 'potrace -v' to obtain the exact version number
    Affected if Version returned is 1.12 or lower, or version cannot be determined (may indicate old unversioned build)
  3. Check for potrace library usage
    Search for applications linking against libpotrace: run 'ldconfig -p | grep potrace' or check application dependencies with 'ldd <application>'
    Affected if Any application is linked to libpotrace and processes BMP input
  4. Identify BMP file processing
    Review logs or configurations of any potrace-based application to determine if it accepts BMP file input
    Affected if The system runs any potrace-based tool that processes BMP files from external or untrusted sources

If potrace version 1.12 or lower is installed AND the tool processes BMP files, 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. Until upgraded, avoid processing untrusted or unknown BMP files with potrace-based applications.

Fix this in Potrace Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation1.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
8.0 hours of engineering $1,390
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,224.

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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-2016-8698 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