Ubuntu LinuxOperating system · Canonical
CVE-2017-18271
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 ImageMagick 7.0.7-16 Q16 x86_64 2017-12-22, an infinite loop vulnerability was found in the function ReadMIFFImage in coders/miff.c, which allows attackers to cause a denial of service (CPU exhaustion) via a crafted MIFF image 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 · high confidenceImageMagick 7.0.7-16 contains an infinite loop vulnerability in the ReadMIFFImage function in coders/miff.c. When processing a specially crafted MIFF image file, the function enters an unbounded loop that consumes CPU resources, leading to denial of service through CPU exhaustion.
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
Ubuntu LinuxOperating system
= 14.04= 16.04= 17.10= 18.04
Debian LinuxOperating system
= 7.0= 7.0.7-16CVSS 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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Verify ImageMagick installationRun 'convert --version' or 'magick --version' to check if ImageMagick is installed and retrieve the version numberAffected if ImageMagick is installed and the version is exactly 7.0.7-16
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Confirm the exact version numberCompare the installed version against the affected range 7.0.7-16. Use 'convert --version' output which displays the version in the format like 'ImageMagick 7.x.x'Affected if The installed version is exactly 7.0.7-16
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Check if MIFF coder support is enabledRun 'convert -list configure | grep -i miff' or 'identify -list configure' to verify the MIFF coder is compiled and available in the installationAffected if MIFF support is enabled and available in the ImageMagick build
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Detect recent MIFF file processingReview application logs or use process monitoring (such as 'ps' or system auditing tools) to observe if ImageMagick is processing MIFF files. MIFF files typically have the .miff extensionAffected if The system processes MIFF image files using the affected ImageMagick version
The environment is affected if ImageMagick version 7.0.7-16 is installed with MIFF coder support enabled and MIFF files are being processed, as the vulnerability lies in the ReadMIFFImage function handling specially crafted MIFF 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 dataUpgrade ImageMagick to a version beyond 7.0.7-16 that includes the patched code, or implement input validation and processing timeouts for MIFF files to prevent CPU exhaustion attacks.
Fix this in Ubuntu Linux
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,800.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2017-18271 — 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-2017-18271 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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