Debian LinuxOperating system · Debian
CVE-2023-3618
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 · uneditedA flaw was found in libtiff. A specially crafted tiff file can lead to a segmentation fault due to a buffer overflow in the Fax3Encode function in libtiff/tif_fax3.c, resulting in a denial of service.
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 buffer overflow vulnerability exists in libtiff's Fax3Encode function (tif_fax3.c) when processing specially crafted TIFF files using Group 3 fax compression. The overflow occurs during fax encoding operations, leading to a segmentation fault and denial of service.
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
= 10.0
Enterprise LinuxOperating system
= 8.0= 9.0< 4.5.1CVSS 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
- 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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Identify installed libtiff versionRun 'tiffinfo -version' or check your package manager: 'dpkg -l libtiff*' (Debian) or 'rpm -qa | grep tiff' (RHEL)Affected if Installed version is less than 4.5.1 or the version is unknown/unavailable
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Confirm fax compression support is presentCheck for the fax codec library: locate 'tif_fax3.c' in the libtiff source or check if /usr/lib/*/libtiff.so* existsAffected if The fax compression module (tif_fax3) is present in the installation
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Detect active TIFF processing servicesReview running processes that handle TIFF files: 'ps aux | grep -i tiff' or check for applications using libtiff (e.g., ImageMagick, graphics tools)Affected if Any service or application is configured to process incoming TIFF files, especially fax-compressed ones
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Review fax-related configurationsCheck application configs for fax processing or TIFF handling: look for 'Fax3', 'Group3', or 'fax' in config files and /etc or application directoriesAffected if Fax compression or Group 3 TIFF processing is enabled in any configuration
You are affected if libtiff version is below 4.5.1 AND your system processes or can process fax-compressed TIFF files.
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.
dbcve · scoped4.5.1
Update libtiff to the latest version containing the fix for this buffer overflow. Until patches are available, disable processing of untrusted TIFF files or implement input validation to reject abnormally formatted fax-compressed TIFFs.
Libtiff 4.5.1 or later
- 1. Identify the installed libtiff version using your system's package manager (e.g., dpkg -l | grep libtiff for Debian, rpm -qa | grep libtiff for RHEL/CentOS)
- 2. Update the package repository to ensure latest packages are available
- 3. Upgrade libtiff to version 4.5.1 or later using the appropriate package manager command (e.g., apt-get update && apt-get install libtiff5 for Debian, or dnf update libtiff for RHEL/Enterprise Linux)
- 4. Verify the upgraded version meets the minimum fixed version requirement (4.5.1 or newer)
- 5. Restart any services or applications that use libtiff to ensure the patched library is loaded
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
Fix this in Debian Linux
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation6.0 h
- Testing5.0 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 $4,752.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-3618 — 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-2023-3618 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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