CVE-2017-11613
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 · uneditedIn LibTIFF 4.0.8, there is a denial of service vulnerability in the TIFFOpen function. A crafted input will lead to a denial of service attack. During the TIFFOpen process, td_imagelength is not checked. The value of td_imagelength can be directly controlled by an input file. In the ChopUpSingleUncompressedStrip function, the _TIFFCheckMalloc function is called based on td_imagelength. If we set the value of td_imagelength close to the amount of system memory, it will hang the system or trigger the OOM killer.
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 confidenceIn LibTIFF 4.0.8, the TIFFOpen function fails to validate the td_imagelength value from the input file before calling _TIFFCheckMalloc in ChopUpSingleUncompressedStrip. An attacker can craft a TIFF file with an extremely large td_imagelength value to trigger unbounded memory allocation, causing denial of service via system hang or OOM killer activation.
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= 4.0.8CVSS 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
- Network
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- Required
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- None
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/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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Check installed LibTIFF versionRun 'tiffinfo -version' or 'tiffcp -v' on the command line. On Linux you can also check the library file directly using 'strings' or checking package manager output like 'dpkg -l libtiff' or 'rpm -qa libtiff'. On Windows, check the file properties of the TIFF DLL in use.Affected if The version reported is exactly 4.0.8
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Identify applications using LibTIFFSearch for binaries or applications linked against libtiff by running 'ldd' on suspect binaries or using 'ldconfig -p | grep tiff' to list linked libraries. Check if image viewers, converters, or document processors have LibTIFF dependencies.Affected if Any application that processes TIFF files is linked to LibTIFF version 4.0.8
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Determine if untrusted TIFF input is processedReview application logs or documentation to identify if the system accepts TIFF files from untrusted sources such as user uploads, email attachments, or network inputs. Check web servers, file upload handlers, or document management systems.Affected if Any application on the system accepts and processes TIFF files from untrusted or external sources
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Audit TIFF file processing workflowsLook for automated scripts, batch jobs, or services that process TIFF files. Check cron jobs, application workflows, or file ingestion pipelines that handle image formats.Affected if Automated or user-initiated TIFF processing workflows exist on the system
You are affected if LibTIFF version 4.0.8 is installed AND any application or workflow on the system processes TIFF files from untrusted sources, as the vulnerability can be triggered by a specially crafted TIFF file.
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 dataImplement bounds checking on td_imagelength before memory allocation in ChopUpSingleUncompressedStrip, and update to a patched version of LibTIFF that includes this validation.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing6.0 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 $3,808.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2017-11613 — 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-2017-11613 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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- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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