CVE-2017-9160
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 stack-based buffer overflow in the pnmscanner_gettoken function in input-pnm.c:458:12.
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 confidenceA stack-based buffer overflow vulnerability exists in AutoTrace 0.31.1 within the pnmscanner_gettoken function in input-pnm.c. The vulnerability is triggered during PNM image parsing when processing malicious input, potentially allowing remote code execution or denial of service.
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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Check if AutoTrace is installedRun command: which autotrace or dpkg -l | grep autotrace (Debian/Ubuntu) or rpm -qa | grep autotrace (RHEL/CentOS)Affected if AutoTrace binary exists on the system
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Determine AutoTrace versionRun: autotrace --version and compare to 0.31.1Affected if Version is exactly 0.31.1
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Identify PNM processing usageSearch logs, applications, or scripts that invoke autotrace with PNM files (files with .pnm, .ppm, .pgm, .pbm extensions)Affected if AutoTrace is being used to process PNM image files
User is affected if AutoTrace version 0.31.1 is installed AND used to process PNM 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.
dbcve · scopedUpgrade to a patched version of AutoTrace if available; otherwise, disable or avoid processing untrusted PNM/PNM-style image files with the affected library.
Latest stable release of AutoTrace (version > 0.31.1)
- 1. Check the current installed version of Autotrace: autotrace --version
- 2. Visit the official AutoTrace project repository or distribution archives to identify if a version newer than 0.31.1 is available
- 3. If a newer version exists, download it from the official source (typically GNU ftp or project homepage)
- 4. Backup any existing AutoTrace configurations and input files
- 5. Compile and install the newer version following standard ./configure, make, make install procedure
- 6. Verify the new version is installed: autotrace --version
- 7. Test with sample PNM/PNM-like image files to ensure functionality works correctly
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $6,176.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2017-9160 — 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-2017-9160 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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