CVE-2017-11569
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 · uneditedFontForge 20161012 is vulnerable to a heap-based buffer over-read in readttfcopyrights (parsettf.c) resulting in DoS or code execution via a crafted otf file.
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 confidenceFontForge 20161012 contains a heap-based buffer over-read vulnerability in the readttfcopyrights function within parsettf.c. When parsing a specially crafted OpenType Font (OTF) file, the application reads beyond allocated heap memory boundaries, potentially causing a denial of service (crash) or enabling 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= 20161012CVSS 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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Check if FontForge is installedRun 'fontforge --version' or check for the fontforge binary in common paths like /usr/bin/fontforge, /usr/local/bin/fontforge, or via package manager (dpkg -l fontforge, rpm -qa fontforge)Affected if FontForge is present on the system
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Determine FontForge versionExecute 'fontforge --version' and parse the output for the build date or version number (affected version is 20161012)Affected if Version displayed matches exactly 20161012
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Verify the parsettf.c component existsCheck if the FontForge binary includes the parsettf.c parsing module - this can be confirmed by examining FontForge's build information via 'fontforge --version -v' or checking installation paths for parsettf related librariesAffected if parsettf.c module is present in the FontForge installation
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Identify OTF file processing capabilityCheck if FontForge has been used to open or process OTF files - look for recent fontforge command history, log files, or examine user activity involving .otf file extensionsAffected if FontForge is used to parse or open OTF font files
A user is affected if FontForge version 20161012 is installed and used to process OTF files, as the buffer over-read in the readttfcopyrights function triggers during OTF 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 dataAvoid opening untrusted or unverified OTF files with vulnerable FontForge versions. Update to a patched version of FontForge once available, and consider running FontForge in an isolated sandbox environment when processing external font files.
- Consultation1.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2017-11569 — 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-2017-11569 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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