CVE-2008-6070 in GraphicsMagick
Summary
by MITRE
Multiple heap-based buffer underflows in the ReadPALMImage function in coders/palm.c in GraphicsMagick before 1.2.3 allow remote attackers to cause a denial of service (crash) or possibly execute arbitrary code via a crafted PALM image, a different vulnerability than CVE-2007-0770. NOTE: some of these details are obtained from third party information.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 08/04/2021
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2008-6070 represents a critical heap-based buffer underflow flaw within the GraphicsMagick image processing library, specifically within the ReadPALMImage function located in the coders/palm.c file. This vulnerability affects GraphicsMagick versions prior to 1.2.3 and presents a significant security risk due to its potential for both denial of service and arbitrary code execution. The flaw manifests when processing specially crafted PALM image files, making it particularly dangerous in environments where untrusted image files are processed. The vulnerability is classified as a heap-based buffer underflow, which falls under the CWE-119 weakness category, specifically CWE-121, indicating heap-based buffer overflow conditions. This type of vulnerability occurs when an application writes data beyond the allocated boundaries of a heap-allocated buffer, potentially corrupting adjacent memory regions and leading to unpredictable behavior.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability exploits the improper bounds checking within the ReadPALMImage function, which fails to validate the size and structure of incoming PALM image data before attempting to read or write to memory locations. When a maliciously crafted PALM image is processed, the function attempts to access memory beyond the allocated buffer space, causing memory corruption that can lead to application crashes or, in more sophisticated exploitation scenarios, arbitrary code execution. The vulnerability's remote exploitation capability means that attackers can trigger the flaw by simply delivering a malicious PALM image file to a system running GraphicsMagick, without requiring any special privileges or local access. This characteristic aligns with the ATT&CK technique T1203, which describes the use of malicious files to gain code execution through application vulnerabilities.
The operational impact of CVE-2008-6070 extends beyond simple denial of service scenarios, as the potential for arbitrary code execution makes this vulnerability particularly dangerous in web applications, file processing services, or any environment where GraphicsMagick is used to handle untrusted image content. Systems that process user-uploaded images or automatically download images from external sources become prime targets for exploitation. The vulnerability's classification as a heap-based buffer underflow means that exploitation could potentially lead to complete system compromise if the attacker can control the execution flow through memory corruption. Organizations using GraphicsMagick in production environments without proper input validation or without updating to patched versions remain at significant risk. The vulnerability's similarity to CVE-2007-0770 indicates that this represents part of a broader class of image processing vulnerabilities that affect multiple formats and libraries. Security professionals should note that buffer underflows in image processing libraries often require careful input sanitization and bounds checking to prevent exploitation. The remediation approach for this vulnerability requires immediate patching of GraphicsMagick installations to version 1.2.3 or later, along with comprehensive input validation for all image processing operations. Additionally, implementing proper memory protection mechanisms such as stack canaries, address space layout randomization, and heap integrity checks can provide additional defense-in-depth measures against similar vulnerabilities in the future.