CVE-2019-6462
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 · uneditedAn issue was discovered in cairo 1.16.0. There is an infinite loop in the function _arc_error_normalized in the file cairo-arc.c, related to _arc_max_angle_for_tolerance_normalized.
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 confidenceCairo graphics library 1.16.0 contains an infinite loop vulnerability in the _arc_error_normalized function in cairo-arc.c, triggered when processing arc calculations related to _arc_max_angle_for_tolerance_normalized. This can cause a denial of service through unbounded CPU consumption.
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= 1.16.0CVSS 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:3.1/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Check if Cairo library is installedRun 'pkg-config --modversion cairo' or check your package manager for cairo installationAffected if Cairo is not installed on the system
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Identify the installed Cairo versionRun 'cairo-version' command, check /usr/lib/libcairo.so version with 'ldd' or 'dpkg -l | grep cairo' / 'rpm -qi cairo'Affected if The installed version is exactly 1.16.0
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Determine if applications use Cairo for graphics renderingCheck which applications on the system link to libcairo using 'ldd <application>' or review application dependenciesAffected if Applications using Cairo are present and process user-controlled graphical content containing arcs
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Verify if arc rendering code paths can be triggeredReview any applications that process SVG, PDF, or other graphics formats that include arc primitives; test with sample files containing arc elementsAffected if The system processes graphical content with arc elements through the affected Cairo version
You are affected if Cairo version 1.16.0 is installed AND any application on the system uses it to render graphical content containing arc primitives, as this triggers the infinite loop in _arc_error_normalized.
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 dataUpgrade cairo to a version where the infinite loop in arc handling is resolved. If immediate upgrade is not feasible, implement input validation or timeouts on graphics operations that invoke arc rendering.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA3.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $4,416.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2019-6462 — 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-2019-6462 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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