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GiflibApplication · Giflib Project

CVE-2024-45993

MEDIUM · 6.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-09-30
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
74/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable 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
Giflib Project v5.2.2 is vulnerable to a heap buffer overflow via gif2rgb.

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

Giflib Project v5.2.2 contains a heap buffer overflow vulnerability in the gif2rgb utility. This memory corruption issue occurs during image processing when the program writes data beyond allocated heap memory boundaries, potentially allowing arbitrary code execution or denial of service.

MitigationUpdate to the latest giflib version if a patch is available, or implement strict input validation on GIF files before processing with gif2rgb. Consider running gif2rgb in a sandboxed environment to limit exploit impact.

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
GiflibApplication
Affected:= 5.2.2

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
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
Low
Availability
Low

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

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. Locate the gif2rgb binary
    Run 'which gif2rgb' or 'where gif2rgb' on Windows to find the executable path. Common locations include /usr/bin/gif2rgb or /usr/local/bin/gif2rgb.
    Affected if The gif2rgb binary exists on the system and is accessible to users.
  2. Determine the installed giflib version
    Check the giflib version by running 'gif2rgb -V' or 'gif2rgb --version'. Alternatively, check package manager output with 'dpkg -l | grep giflib' (Debian) or 'rpm -qa | grep giflib' (RPM-based).
    Affected if The version reported is exactly 5.2.2, matching the affected version.
  3. Verify giflib library version if gif2rgb is part of a larger package
    If gif2rgb is part of a compiled application or library, check the linked libgif version with 'ldd /path/to/gif2rgb' and inspect the shared library file, or check the package that installed the binary.
    Affected if The linked or packaged giflib library version is 5.2.2.

If gif2rgb is present and its version is exactly 5.2.2, the environment is affected by this heap buffer overflow vulnerability.

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
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Update to the latest giflib version if a patch is available, or implement strict input validation on GIF files before processing with gif2rgb. Consider running gif2rgb in a sandboxed environment to limit exploit impact.

Fix this in Giflib Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
15.0 hours of engineering $2,640
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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-2024-45993 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
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