CVE-2016-8701
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 · uneditedHeap-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-2016-8698, CVE-2016-8699, CVE-2016-8700, 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 confidenceHeap-based buffer overflow in the bm_readbody_bmp function in bitmap_io.c of potrace (versions before 1.13) allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code or cause denial of service via a specially crafted BMP image file with malformed header or pixel data that triggers overflow during parsing.
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<= 1.12CVSS 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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify potrace installation and versionRun 'potrace --version' or check package manager (dpkg -l potrace, rpm -q potrace, brew list potrace)Affected if Installed version is 1.12 or earlier (before 1.13)
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Locate the potrace binaryRun 'which potrace' to find the executable path, then 'ls -la /path/to/potrace' for detailsAffected if A potrace binary exists on the system
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Identify services or scripts that invoke potrace on BMP filesSearch configuration files and scripts for potrace usage: grep -r 'potrace' /etc /opt /home/* 2>/dev/null; check web server configs for image processing pipelinesAffected if Potrace is automatically invoked to process BMP files from untrusted or external sources
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Review file processing workflows for BMP inputAudit any automated workflows, cron jobs, or web services that accept BMP uploads and pass them to potrace for conversionAffected if BMP files from untrusted sources are processed by potrace without prior validation
A system is affected if potrace version 1.12 or earlier is installed AND it processes BMP files from untrusted or external sources, as the heap overflow triggers during malformed BMP parsing.
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 potrace to version 1.13 or later. Until then, avoid processing untrusted BMP files with potrace and disable any services that automatically process image files from untrusted sources.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,328.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2016-8701 — 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-2016-8701 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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