dbcve.org
Stb Image.hApplication · Nothings

CVE-2023-45661

HIGH · 7.1 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-10-21
Patch available
A vendor patch is available. No clean upgrade release — apply the published patch.
See remediation →
74/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
No privileges Patch available

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
stb_image is a single file MIT licensed library for processing images. A crafted image file may trigger out of bounds memcpy read in `stbi__gif_load_next`. This happens because two_back points to a memory address lower than the start of the buffer out. This issue may be used to leak internal memory allocation information.

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
How this class of weakness works · CWE-125

The code reads past the end (or before the start) of a buffer, returning memory that was never meant to be exposed. Attackers use it to leak secrets like keys or to defeat memory-protection defences. Remediation is validating indices and lengths before every read.

General guidance for the out-of-bounds read class — the official description and references above are authoritative for this specific CVE. Want a bespoke review and a reviewed fix? Ask our team →

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
Stb Image.hApplication
Affected:= 2.28

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
None
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:H

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 · scoped
Patch available Apply the vendor patch
Vendor patch github.com →
Recommended fix High confidence

stb_image.h version 2.29 or later (commit 5736b15f7ea0ffb08dd38af21067c314d6a3aae9)

  1. 1. Locate the stb_image.h file in your project
  2. 2. Identify the current version of stb_image.h (should be version 2.28 or earlier)
  3. 3. Download the latest version of stb_image.h from the official repository: https://github.com/nothings/stb
  4. 4. Replace the existing stb_image.h with the new version that includes the fix for the out-of-bounds read in stbi__gif_load_next
  5. 5. Rebuild and recompile your project to incorporate the patched library
  6. 6. Test that image loading functionality works correctly with the updated library
Caveat stb_image is a single-header library; ensure no local modifications conflict with the update. Review any custom stb_image extensions or wrappers for compatibility.

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

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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-2023-45661 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

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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
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