CVE-2017-9173
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 ReadImage function in input-bmp.c:497:29.
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 the ReadImage function within input-bmp.c of libautotrace.a version 0.31.1. The overflow occurs when parsing BMP image files, where insufficient bounds checking on heap allocations allows an attacker to overwrite adjacent memory by supplying a specially crafted BMP 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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Verify autotrace installationRun 'which autotrace' or 'autotrace --version' to confirm autotrace is installed on the systemAffected if autotrace is not found, the vulnerability does not apply
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Check installed autotrace versionRun 'autotrace --version' and compare the output to version 0.31.1Affected if the reported version is exactly 0.31.1
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Locate the vulnerable librarySearch for the file libautotrace.a on the system using 'find /usr -name libautotrace.a 2>/dev/null' or similar path searchAffected if libautotrace.a exists and is version 0.31.1 (matching the autotrace binary version)
A system is affected if autotrace version 0.31.1 is installed and processes BMP image files using the vulnerable ReadImage function in libautotrace.a.
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, or implement proper bounds validation in the ReadImage function's heap allocation logic to ensure buffer sizes match the actual BMP data being parsed.
Upgrade to autotrace 0.35.1 or later stable release
- 1. Identify the autotrace installation method (package manager, source compile, or container)
- 2. If using a package manager, check for available updates: apt-get update && apt-cache policy autotrace on Debian/Ubuntu, or yum check-update autotrace on RHEL/CentOS
- 3. If a newer version is available, upgrade using the system's package manager (e.g., apt-get install autotrace or yum update autotrace)
- 4. If building from source, download the latest stable release from the official autotrace repository (currently version 0.35.1 or later) and rebuild
- 5. Verify the upgrade by checking the version: autotrace --version
- 6. Test that BMP processing functionality works correctly with the updated version
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,088.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2017-9173 — 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-2017-9173 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
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