Stack-based Buffer OverflowWeakness · CWE-121

CVE-2024-29421

MEDIUM · 6.2 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-05-22
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
67/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
No privileges Zero-click

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
xmedcon 0.23.0 and fixed in v.0.24.0 is vulnerable to Buffer Overflow via libs/dicom/basic.c which allows an attacker to execute arbitrary code.

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 confidence

xmedcon versions 0.23.0 and earlier contain a buffer overflow vulnerability in libs/dicom/basic.c that allows attackers to overwrite memory boundaries and execute arbitrary code via specially crafted DICOM image files.

MitigationUpgrade xmedcon to version 0.24.0 or later to obtain the patched code. If upgrading is not immediately feasible, implement input validation on DICOM file parsing routines and consider deploying compensating controls such as input file scanning.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

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
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/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 checks

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

  1. Check if xmedcon is installed on the system
    Run 'which xmedcon' or search for xmedcon binary in common paths (/usr/bin/xmedcon, /usr/local/bin/xmedcon). Also check package managers: 'dpkg -l | grep xmedcon' (Debian) or 'rpm -qa | grep xmedcon' (RHEL).
    Affected if xmedcon is found installed on the system
  2. Identify the installed xmedcon version
    Run 'xmedcon --version' or 'xmedcon -v'. If using a package manager, query the installed version: 'dpkg -s xmedcon' or 'rpm -qi xmedcon'.
    Affected if The reported version is 0.23.0 or earlier, or no version is displayed but the package is from an older release
  3. Verify the DICOM parsing library exists
    Check for the vulnerable library file libs/dicom/basic.c in the source or installed files. Search installed libraries: 'find /usr -name "*dicom*"' or check the xmedcon lib directory.
    Affected if The DICOM parsing component (libs/dicom/basic.c or related binaries) is present on the system
  4. Determine if xmedcon processes external DICOM files
    Review system usage to see if xmedcon is used to import, convert, or view DICOM images from external sources. Check any scripts, workflows, or automated processes that invoke xmedcon on untrusted DICOM files.
    Affected if xmedcon is configured or used to process DICOM files from untrusted or external sources

A system is affected if xmedcon version 0.23.0 or earlier is installed AND the application processes DICOM files, since the buffer overflow in libs/dicom/basic.c triggers when parsing specially crafted DICOM images.

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.

dbcve · scoped
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Upgrade xmedcon to version 0.24.0 or later to obtain the patched code. If upgrading is not immediately feasible, implement input validation on DICOM file parsing routines and consider deploying compensating controls such as input file scanning.

Recommended fix High confidence

xmedcon v0.24.0

  1. Upgrade xmedcon from version 0.23.0 to version 0.24.0

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

Have this fixed Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
10.0 hours of engineering $1,720
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Scan for this in your stack

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dbcve dependency scanner

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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-2024-29421 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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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
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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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