CVE-2017-9178
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 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (invalid write and SEGV), related to the ReadImage function in input-bmp.c:421:11.
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 denial of service vulnerability exists in AutoTrace 0.31.1's libautotrace.a library where the ReadImage function in input-bmp.c (line 421) performs an invalid memory write when processing specially crafted BMP files, leading to a segmentation fault. This is a memory corruption issue in the BMP image parsing code.
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
- None
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/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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Check AutoTrace versionRun `autotrace --version` or check the package manager for the installed autotrace package versionAffected if The installed version is exactly 0.31.1
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Locate the vulnerable librarySearch for libautotrace.a in the system, typically in /usr/lib/ or /usr/local/lib/, or find it via `find / -name 'libautotrace*' 2>/dev/null`Affected if libautotrace.a exists and was built from AutoTrace 0.31.1 source code
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Verify BMP input handler is presentCheck for the presence of input-bmp.c in the source or the compiled BMP input handler module within the library. Look for symbols related to BMP processing using `nm libautotrace.a | grep -i bmp`Affected if The BMP input handler (input-bmp.c) is compiled into the library and available for use
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Test BMP processing capabilityAttempt to process a BMP file with autotrace: `autotrace input.bmp` where input.bmp is any BMP fileAffected if AutoTrace successfully processes BMP files, indicating the vulnerable BMP parsing code path is active
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Inspect the ReadImage function in input-bmp.cIf source code is available, examine input-bmp.c around line 421 for the ReadImage function to confirm lack of bounds checking before array writesAffected if Source code shows missing bounds validation before memory writes in the ReadImage function at the reported line
A user is affected if they have AutoTrace version 0.31.1 installed and process BMP files through the libautotrace library, as the vulnerability requires the BMP input handler to be invoked with a specially crafted BMP file.
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 dataUpdate to a patched version of AutoTrace that includes proper bounds checking in the BMP input handler. If no patch is available, implement input validation and bounds checks in the ReadImage function at input-bmp.c:421 to ensure array indices and memory accesses remain within valid bounds before writing.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2017-9178 — 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-2017-9178 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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