CVE-2018-11556
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 · uneditedtificc in Little CMS 2.9 has an out-of-bounds write in the cmsPipelineCheckAndRetreiveStages function in cmslut.c in liblcms2.a via a crafted TIFF file. NOTE: Little CMS developers do consider this a vulnerability because the issue is based on an sample program using LIBTIFF and do not apply to the lcms2 library, lcms2 does not depends on LIBTIFF other than to build sample programs, and the issue cannot be reproduced on the lcms2 library.”
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 confidenceOut-of-bounds write vulnerability in the tificc sample program of Little CMS 2.9, occurring in the cmsPipelineCheckAndRetrieveStages function in cmslut.c when processing a crafted TIFF file. Note: Little CMS maintainers dispute this as a library vulnerability, stating it only affects sample programs that use LIBTIFF and cannot be reproduced in the core lcms2 library.
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= 2.9CVSS 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
- Local
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- Required
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/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 Little CMS versionCheck installed lcms2 version using 'pkg-config --modversion lcms2' or check library files in /usr/lib/ with 'ls -la liblcms*'Affected if Version is exactly 2.9
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Verify tificc sample program is presentCheck if tificc binary exists in system using 'which tificc' or 'find /usr -name tificc 2>/dev/null'Affected if tificc executable is found on the system
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Confirm LIBTIFF integrationCheck if tificc was built with TIFF support by running 'tificc -h' and looking for TIFF-related options or strings, or check build configurationAffected if tificc supports TIFF processing (uses LIBTIFF)
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Identify if tificc is used in your workflowsSearch logs, scripts, or configurations for tificc being invoked to process TIFF filesAffected if tificc is actively used to process TIFF images
You are affected only if you have compiled and are using the tificc sample program from Little CMS 2.9 with LIBTIFF support to process TIFF files; the core lcms2 library alone is not vulnerable.
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 dataIf using tificc sample program: avoid processing untrusted TIFF files, or disable compilation of sample programs in production builds. The core lcms2 library is reportedly unaffected.
- Consultation1.0 h
- Implementation1.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2018-11556 — 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-2018-11556 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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