Debian LinuxOperating system · Debian
CVE-2016-9453
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 t2p_readwrite_pdf_image_tile function in LibTIFF allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (out-of-bounds write and crash) or possibly execute arbitrary code via a JPEG file with a TIFFTAG_JPEGTABLES of length one.
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 confidenceA buffer overflow vulnerability exists in LibTIFF's t2p_readwrite_pdf_image_tile function when processing JPEG files embedded in TIFF images. When the TIFFTAG_JPEGTABLES header has a length of exactly one byte, the function performs an out-of-bounds write operation, leading to potential denial of service (crash) or possible arbitrary code execution.
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
Debian LinuxOperating system
= 8.0= 9.0< 4.0.7= 13.2CVSS 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:3.1/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 installed LibTIFF library versionRun 'dpkg -l libtiff*' on Debian, 'rpm -qa | grep tiff' on RHEL-based systems, or check the library file directly with 'ldconfig -p | grep tiff' and then inspect the library with 'strings libtiff.so.X | grep -i version'Affected if The version is lower than 4.0.7 (e.g., 4.0.6, 4.0.5, etc.) or matches Debian 8.0/9.0 or openSUSE 13.2 packages
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Verify tiff2pdf utility is installedRun 'which tiff2pdf' or 'command -v tiff2pdf' to locate the binary; this tool uses the vulnerable t2p_readwrite_pdf_image_tile function when converting TIFF to PDFAffected if tiff2pdf is installed and linked to a vulnerable LibTIFF version
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Check for presence of TIFF processing tools that handle JPEG-in-TIFFList tools such as 'tiffinfo', 'tiffcp', or 'tiff2ps' which may invoke the vulnerable code path when processing TIFF files containing JPEG dataAffected if Any LibTIFF-based tool is present and could process malicious TIFF files with JPEG tables
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Determine if environment processes user-supplied TIFF/JPEG filesReview any web services, document conversion pipelines, or automated workflows that accept TIFF or TIFF-derived files and pass them to LibTIFF-based utilitiesAffected if Untrusted or user-supplied TIFF/JPEG files can be processed by the installed LibTIFF tools
You are affected if LibTIFF version is below 4.0.7 AND your system runs tools (like tiff2pdf) that process TIFF files containing embedded JPEG data, especially from untrusted sources.
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 data4.0.7
Update LibTIFF to the latest patched version. Until patched, avoid processing untrusted or user-supplied TIFF/JPEG files with tools that rely on LibTIFF.
Fix this in Debian Linux
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation6.0 h
- Testing8.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $6,080.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2016-9453 — 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-2016-9453 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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