CVE-2017-9153
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 · uneditedlibautotrace.a in AutoTrace 0.31.1 has a heap-based buffer overflow in the pnm_load_rawpbm function in input-pnm.c:391:13.
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 heap-based buffer overflow vulnerability exists in AutoTrace 0.31.1's libautotrace.a library within the pnm_load_rawpbm function in input-pnm.c at line 391. The function fails to properly validate bounds when parsing raw PNM (portable anymap) image files, allowing an attacker to overwrite heap memory by supplying a specially crafted PNM file.
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= 0.31.1CVSS 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
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/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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Confirm AutoTrace installationRun 'autotrace --version' or check for the autotrace binary in common paths (/usr/bin/autotrace, /usr/local/bin/autotrace)Affected if AutoTrace is not installed on the system
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Verify AutoTrace versionExecute 'autotrace --version' and check if the output shows version 0.31.1Affected if The installed version is exactly 0.31.1
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Confirm PNM processing capability existsCheck if the libautotrace.a library exists and was built from the 0.31.1 source; verify input-pnm.c is present in the source treeAffected if The vulnerable pnm_load_rawpbm function in input-pnm.c is part of the installed library
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Identify PNM file processing usageSearch application logs, web server logs, or user workflows for instances where autotrace processes PNM files (look for .pnm, .ppm, .pbm extensions in input paths or command arguments)Affected if AutoTrace is actively processing untrusted PNM image files
You are affected if AutoTrace version 0.31.1 is installed and processes PNM image files, as the heap overflow in pnm_load_rawpbm triggers during raw PNM parsing.
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 to a patched version of AutoTrace if available; otherwise, disable or avoid processing untrusted PNM image files with autotrace until a fix can be implemented. The critical CVSS score (9.8) indicates this vulnerability is network-exploitable and requires no authentication.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA3.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2017-9153 — 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-2017-9153 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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