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LibtiffApplication

CVE-2017-13727

MEDIUM · 6.5 CVSS v3.0 Published 2017-08-29
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
72/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable No privileges

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 · unedited
There is a reachable assertion abort in the function TIFFWriteDirectoryTagSubifd() in LibTIFF 4.0.8, related to tif_dirwrite.c and a SubIFD tag. A crafted input will lead to a remote denial of service attack.

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 · moderate confidence

LibTIFF 4.0.8 contains a reachable assertion abort in TIFFWriteDirectoryTagSubifd() in tif_dirwrite.c when processing a crafted TIFF file with a malicious SubIFD tag, leading to denial of service.

MitigationUpdate to a patched version of LibTIFF that fixes the assertion check in TIFFWriteDirectoryTagSubifd(), or validate TIFF inputs before processing to reject malformed SubIFD tags.

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
LibtiffApplication
Affected:= 4.0.8

CVSS 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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Check LibTIFF library version
    Run `tiffinfo -version` or check the installed package version using your system package manager (dpkg -l | grep libtiff, rpm -q libtiff, or similar)
    Affected if The installed LibTIFF library version is exactly 4.0.8
  2. Verify tiff tools linked library version
    Run `ldd $(which tiffinfo)` or `ldd $(which tiff2pdf)` to see which libtiff version the tools are linked against
    Affected if The linked libtiff.so version shows 4.0.8
  3. Check for LibTIFF development files
    If LibTIFF was built from source, examine the libtiff/tiffvers.h header file or the library binary itself using `strings libtiff.so | grep "4.0.8"`
    Affected if The built library version is 4.0.8
  4. Identify tools that process TIFF files
    List binaries on the system that depend on libtiff using `ldconfig -p | grep libtiff` or checking /usr/bin for tiff* tools
    Affected if TIFF processing tools exist and are linked against a vulnerable 4.0.8 library

You are affected if any LibTIFF library or tool on your system is version 4.0.8 and is used to process untrusted TIFF files with SubIFD tags.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

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 data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Update to a patched version of LibTIFF that fixes the assertion check in TIFFWriteDirectoryTagSubifd(), or validate TIFF inputs before processing to reject malformed SubIFD tags.

Fix this in Libtiff Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation1.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
6.0 hours of engineering $1,060
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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2017-13727 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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