Debian LinuxOperating system · Debian
CVE-2017-14449
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 · uneditedA double-Free vulnerability exists in the XCF image rendering functionality of SDL2_image-2.0.2. A specially crafted XCF image can cause a Double-Free situation to occur. An attacker can display a specially crafted image to trigger this vulnerability.
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 double-free vulnerability exists in the XCF image rendering functionality of SDL2_image-2.0.2. When parsing a specially crafted XCF image file, the parser attempts to free the same memory pointer twice, leading to heap corruption and potential 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= 2.0.2CVSS 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
- Network
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- Required
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/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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Verify SDL2_image is installedCheck for the presence of the SDL2_image library (typically libSDL2_image-2.0.so.0 or similar in /usr/lib/) using 'ldconfig -p | grep SDL2_image' or by listing package contents with 'dpkg -l | grep libsdl2-image' (Debian)Affected if The library is present on the system
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Identify installed SDL2_image versionRun 'pkg-config --modversion SDL2_image' or check the package version with 'dpkg -l libsdl2-image-2.0-0' (Debian), or inspect the library file version stringAffected if Version equals 2.0.2 exactly
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Confirm Debian Linux versionRun 'cat /etc/debian_version' to check if the system is Debian 8.0 or 9.0Affected if System runs Debian 8.0 or Debian 9.0 AND SDL2_image version 2.0.2 is installed
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Check for XCF file processing capabilityVerify the application or system has functionality to load XCF image files - this may involve checking if ImageMagick, GIMP, or any SDL2_image-based application can process XCF filesAffected if XCF image loading/rendering functionality is available and the SDL2_image version is 2.0.2
A user is affected if SDL2_image version 2.0.2 is installed on Debian 8.0 or 9.0 and the system or any application uses SDL2_image to process XCF image files.
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 dataUpdate SDL2_image to a patched version that fixes the double-free vulnerability. Until then, avoid processing untrusted XCF files.
Fix this in Debian Linux
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing3.0 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 $3,088.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2017-14449 — 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-2017-14449 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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