dbcve.org
Debian LinuxOperating system · Debian

CVE-2021-32490

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2021-06-24
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 3.5.28 or later.
See remediation →
81/100
Remediation priority · High
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
A flaw was found in djvulibre-3.5.28 and earlier. An out of bounds write in function DJVU::filter_bv() via crafted djvu file may lead to application crash and other consequences.

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

A buffer overflow vulnerability exists in djvulibre versions 3.5.28 and earlier. The DJVU::filter_bv() function fails to properly validate bounds when processing a crafted DJVU file, resulting in an out-of-bounds write that can cause application crashes or potentially enable arbitrary code execution.

MitigationUpdate djvulibre to a patched version (post-3.5.28) once available, or implement input validation to reject untrusted DJVU files before processing.

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:= 10.0= 11.0
DjvulibreApplication
Affected:<= 3.5.28

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
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
Required
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/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 checks

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

  1. Identify djvulibre installation
    Run 'dpkg -l | grep djvulibre' on Debian-based systems, or 'rpm -qa | grep djvulibre' on RHEL-based systems, to list installed djvulibre packages
    Affected if Any djvulibre package is installed
  2. Check installed djvulibre version
    Run 'dpkg -s djvulibre' or 'rpm -qi djvulibre' to display the installed version number
    Affected if The version displayed is 3.5.28 or earlier
  3. Verify library version directly
    Run 'ddjvu -version' if available, or check the shared library with 'objdump -p /usr/lib/libdjvulibre.so.* | grep Version' to confirm the library version
    Affected if The library version shows 3.5.28 or lower
  4. Identify applications using djvulibre
    Check for programs that process DJVU files such as 'djview', 'evince', or other document viewers that link against libdjvulibre by running 'ldd /path/to/viewer | grep djvulibre'
    Affected if Any application that processes DJVU files is installed and uses the vulnerable library

You are affected if djvulibre version 3.5.28 or earlier is installed and you process DJVU files with applications using this library

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
Upgrade available Upgrade to a release after 3.5.28
Interim mitigation

Update djvulibre to a patched version (post-3.5.28) once available, or implement input validation to reject untrusted DJVU files before processing.

Fix this in Debian Linux Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA3.0 h
21.0 hours of engineering $3,680
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Scan for this in your stack

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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-2021-32490 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • 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
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data