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Debian LinuxOperating system · Debian

CVE-2017-9403

MEDIUM · 6.5 CVSS v3.0 Published 2017-06-02
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
72/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable No privileges

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 · unedited
In LibTIFF 4.0.7, a memory leak vulnerability was found in the function TIFFReadDirEntryLong8Array in tif_dirread.c, which allows attackers to cause a denial of service via a crafted 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 · moderate confidence

LibTIFF 4.0.7 contains a memory leak in the TIFFReadDirEntryLong8Array function in tif_dirread.c. When parsing a specially crafted TIFF file, memory allocated for Long8 array entries is not properly freed, leading to gradual memory exhaustion and denial of service through resource exhaustion.

MitigationUpgrade to a patched version of LibTIFF that addresses the memory leak. Alternatively, implement proper memory deallocation for Long8 array entries in the affected function.

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
Debian LinuxOperating system
Affected:= 8.0= 9.0= 10.0
Ubuntu LinuxOperating system
Affected:= 14.04= 16.04
LibtiffApplication
Affected:= 4.0.7

CVSS 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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify installed LibTIFF version
    Run `tiffinfo -version` or `tiffdump -version` to see the version. On Debian/Ubuntu use `dpkg -l | grep libtiff`. On RHEL use `rpm -qa | grep tiff`. Check the shared library with `ldd $(which tiffinfo) 2>/dev/null | grep tiff` and then `strings /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libtiff.so.5 2>/dev/null | grep -i version`
    Affected if Version returned is exactly 4.0.7
  2. Confirm OS distribution and version
    Run `cat /etc/os-release` or `lsb_release -a` to identify the Linux distribution. For Debian check `cat /etc/debian_version`. For Ubuntu check `cat /etc/lsb-release`
    Affected if System is Debian 8.0, 9.0, or 10.0, OR Ubuntu 14.04 or 16.04 with LibTIFF 4.0.7 installed
  3. Verify TIFF processing capability is present
    Check if tiffinfo, tiffdump, tiff2pdf, or other LibTIFF tools are installed: `which tiffinfo tiffdump tiff2pdf 2>/dev/null`. Also check if any application links against libtiff: `ldconfig -p | grep tiff`
    Affected if LibTIFF tools or library bindings exist, meaning the vulnerable code path could be reached when processing malicious TIFF files
  4. Check for custom or third-party LibTIFF builds
    Inspect any custom application bundling LibTIFF: review application dependencies, check for bundled libtiff versions in `/opt` or application directories, and examine any statically linked TIFF libraries with `strings <binary> | grep -i tiff`
    Affected if A custom or bundled version of LibTIFF 4.0.7 is in use outside the system package manager

A system is affected only if LibTIFF version 4.0.7 is installed (directly or via bundled code) and the system runs Debian 8/9/10, Ubuntu 14.04/16.04, or uses this specific LibTIFF version on any Linux distribution, enabling parsing of potentially untrusted TIFF files.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

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 data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Upgrade to a patched version of LibTIFF that addresses the memory leak. Alternatively, implement proper memory deallocation for Long8 array entries in the affected function.

Fix this in Debian Linux Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing8.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
21.0 hours of engineering $3,600
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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2017-9403 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

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What belongs here
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