CVE-2016-10168 in GD Graphics Library
Summary
by MITRE
Integer overflow in gd_io.c in the GD Graphics Library (aka libgd) before 2.2.4 allows remote attackers to have unspecified impact via vectors involving the number of horizontal and vertical chunks in an image.
If you want to get best quality of vulnerability data, you may have to visit VulDB.
Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 09/08/2020
The CVE-2016-10168 vulnerability represents a critical integer overflow flaw within the GD Graphics Library, specifically in the gd_io.c file component. This vulnerability affects versions prior to 2.2.4 and exposes systems to potential remote exploitation through crafted image data processing. The flaw manifests when the library handles image data containing malformed horizontal and vertical chunk specifications, creating conditions where integer arithmetic operations exceed their maximum representable values. Such overflow conditions can lead to unpredictable behavior including memory corruption, application crashes, or potentially arbitrary code execution depending on the system environment and how the library is integrated into applications. The vulnerability falls under the CWE-190 category of Integer Overflow or Wraparound, which is a well-documented weakness in software security practices where integer values exceed their allocated storage capacity. From an operational perspective, this vulnerability poses significant risk to web applications, content management systems, and any software that relies on libgd for image processing functionality, as attackers can craft malicious image files to trigger the overflow condition during normal image handling operations. The attack vector involves remote exploitation through image uploads or processing of external image sources, making it particularly dangerous in web-facing applications where user-provided content is accepted. The impact of this vulnerability can extend beyond immediate system compromise to include data integrity issues, denial of service conditions, and potential privilege escalation depending on the execution environment. Organizations using affected versions of libgd should prioritize immediate patching to version 2.2.4 or later, as this update contains the necessary fixes to prevent integer overflow conditions in the image chunk handling logic. Additionally, implementing input validation controls and sanitization measures for image data can provide additional defense-in-depth layers, though the primary mitigation remains the application of the official security patch. This vulnerability aligns with ATT&CK technique T1203, which involves exploitation of software vulnerabilities for privilege escalation or system compromise, and demonstrates the importance of maintaining up-to-date third-party libraries in security-conscious environments. The integer overflow condition specifically relates to improper handling of unsigned integer arithmetic in the context of image dimension calculations, where the overflow occurs during chunk count calculations that determine how image data should be processed and stored in memory.