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LibmingApplication

CVE-2017-16883

MEDIUM · 6.5 CVSS v3.0 Published 2017-11-18
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 0.4.8 or later.
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
The outputSWF_TEXT_RECORD function in util/outputscript.c in libming <= 0.4.8 is vulnerable to a NULL pointer dereference, which may allow attackers to cause a denial of service via a crafted swf 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 · moderate confidence

The vulnerability is a NULL pointer dereference in the outputSWF_TEXT_RECORD function in util/outputscript.c within libming versions 0.4.8 and earlier. When processing a specially crafted SWF file, the function attempts to dereference a NULL pointer, causing the application to crash and resulting in a denial of service.

MitigationUpdate libming to a version beyond 0.4.8 where the vulnerability has been patched, or implement input validation to reject malformed SWF files before processing.

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
LibmingApplication
Affected:<= 0.4.8

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. Identify installed libming version
    Run 'dpkg -l libming*' on Debian-based systems or 'rpm -qa | grep ming' on Red Hat-based systems to list installed ming library packages and their versions
    Affected if Any libming package version is 0.4.8 or earlier
  2. Query libming library version directly
    Run 'ming-getversion' if available, or use 'strings /usr/lib/*/libming.so* | grep -i version' to extract version strings from the shared library file
    Affected if The version output shows 0.4.8 or any version lower than that
  3. Identify applications using libming for SWF processing
    Run 'ldd /path/to/binary | grep ming' on suspected SWF processing tools (such as swftools, ming utilities, or custom applications) to check if they link against libming
    Affected if The application links against libming and the library version is 0.4.8 or earlier

A system is affected if it runs any application that links against libming version 0.4.8 or earlier to process SWF files.

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
Upgrade available Upgrade to a release after 0.4.8
Interim mitigation

Update libming to a version beyond 0.4.8 where the vulnerability has been patched, or implement input validation to reject malformed SWF files before processing.

Fix this in Libming Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation1.0 h
  • Implementation1.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
5.0 hours of engineering $860
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,376.

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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-2017-16883 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
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data