CVE-2016-8885
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 bmp_getdata function in libjasper/bmp/bmp_dec.c in JasPer before 1.900.9 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (NULL pointer dereference) by calling the imginfo command with 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 confidenceThe bmp_getdata function in libjasper/bmp/bmp_dec.c in JasPer before version 1.900.9 contains a NULL pointer dereference vulnerability when parsing crafted BMP images. An attacker can trigger this by supplying a specially crafted BMP file to the imginfo command, causing a denial of service through application 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<= 1.900.8CVSS 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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify JasPer versionRun `jasper --version` or check the package manager for the installed jasper package version (e.g., `dpkg -l libjasper` on Debian/Ubuntu, `rpm -qa | grep jasper` on RHEL/CentOS)Affected if The installed version is 1.900.8 or lower, or if version cannot be determined and the package is present
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Locate the vulnerable libraryFind the libjasper library file (typically libjasper.so.x or libjasper.a) using `find /usr -name 'libjasper*' 2>/dev/null` and check its metadata or associated version fileAffected if The library exists but its version is 1.900.8 or lower, or version information is unavailable
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Check if BMP processing is accessibleVerify the imginfo command or any tool capable of processing BMP files exists in the system (e.g., `which imginfo` or check for binaries linked against libjasper that accept image input)Affected if The imginfo command or a JasPer-based image tool that processes BMP files is present and executable by the user
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If JasPer was built from source, check the file libjasper/bmp/bmp_dec.c for the bmp_getdata function and confirm it lacks the fix (the function should contain a check for NULL pointer before dereferencing, introduced in version 1.900.9)Affected if The source code in bmp_getdata does not contain the NULL pointer check guard that was added in version 1.900.9
A user is affected if JasPer version 1.900.8 or lower is installed AND a tool like imginfo that can parse BMP files is accessible to process untrusted BMP input.
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 JasPer to version 1.900.9 or later to patch the NULL pointer dereference in the BMP decoder. If immediate patching is not feasible, restrict access to the imginfo command and validate BMP input before processing.
- Consultation1.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2016-8885 — 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-2016-8885 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
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