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Debian LinuxOperating system · Debian

CVE-2017-17785

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2017-12-20
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
81/100
Remediation priority · High
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
In GIMP 2.8.22, there is a heap-based buffer overflow in the fli_read_brun function in plug-ins/file-fli/fli.c.

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 confidence

Heap-based buffer overflow in GIMP 2.8.22's FLI animation file parser. The fli_read_brun function in plug-ins/file-fli/fli.c does not properly validate bounds when reading compressed FLI/FLC animation frames, allowing a specially crafted malicious FLI file to overflow the heap buffer.

MitigationUpgrade GIMP to a version newer than 2.8.22 that contains the patch for this vulnerability. Avoid opening untrusted FLI/FLC animation files in GIMP until the update is applied.

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
Affected:= 7.0= 8.0= 9.0
Ubuntu LinuxOperating system
Affected:= 14.04
GimpApplication
Affected:= 2.8.22

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
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
Required
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/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 checks

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

  1. Check if GIMP is installed
    Run 'gimp --version' or 'dpkg -l | grep gimp' (Debian/Ubuntu) to determine if GIMP is present on the system
    Affected if GIMP is not installed, the system is not affected by this specific vulnerability
  2. Determine the installed GIMP version
    Execute 'gimp --version' to retrieve the exact version number, or use package manager commands like 'apt-cache policy gimp' on Debian/Ubuntu
    Affected if The installed version is exactly 2.8.22, which matches the vulnerable version listed in the affected products
  3. Verify the FLI/FLC file plugin exists
    Check for the presence of the file-fli plugin by searching for 'fli.c' or the compiled plugin in GIMP's plugin directory, typically found at /usr/lib/gimp/*/plug-ins/file-fli/ or similar path
    Affected if The FLI plugin binary exists and corresponds to the vulnerable 2.8.22 version codebase
  4. Confirm the system OS matches affected distributions
    Check the OS version with 'cat /etc/os-release' or 'lsb_release -a' to confirm if the system is Debian 7.0, 8.0, or 9.0, or Ubuntu 14.04
    Affected if The system runs one of the explicitly listed affected OS versions with the vulnerable GIMP version installed

A system is affected if GIMP version 2.8.22 is installed (or the specific vulnerable codebase) and the FLI/FLC animation file plugin is present on a Debian 7.0/8.0/9.0 or Ubuntu 14.04 system.

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

Upgrade GIMP to a version newer than 2.8.22 that contains the patch for this vulnerability. Avoid opening untrusted FLI/FLC animation files in GIMP until the update is applied.

Fix this in Debian Linux Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA3.0 h
19.0 hours of engineering $3,280
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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-2017-17785 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