CVE-2016-5102 in LibTIFF
Summary
by MITRE
Buffer overflow in the readgifimage function in gif2tiff.c in the gif2tiff tool in LibTIFF 4.0.6 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (segmentation fault) via a crafted gif file.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 11/11/2022
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2016-5102 represents a critical buffer overflow flaw within the LibTIFF library's gif2tiff conversion utility. This issue specifically affects the readgifimage function in the gif2tiff.c source file, which is part of LibTIFF version 4.0.6. The flaw manifests when processing specially crafted gif image files, creating a condition where an attacker can manipulate the memory allocation and data handling processes to trigger a segmentation fault. The buffer overflow occurs during the parsing and conversion of gif format images into tiff format, making this vulnerability particularly dangerous in environments where automated image processing or file conversion services are prevalent.
The technical nature of this vulnerability aligns with CWE-121, which describes heap-based buffer overflow conditions where insufficient bounds checking allows attackers to write beyond allocated memory boundaries. The flaw operates by failing to properly validate the dimensions and data structures within the gif file format before attempting to read and process the image data. When a maliciously crafted gif file is processed by the gif2tiff utility, the readgifimage function does not adequately check the size parameters of image components, leading to memory corruption that results in a segmentation fault and subsequent application crash. This behavior constitutes a classic denial of service vulnerability that can be exploited remotely without requiring authentication or specialized privileges.
From an operational perspective, this vulnerability presents significant risks to systems that utilize LibTIFF for image processing workflows, particularly in web applications, content management systems, or any service that accepts user-uploaded image files. The remote exploitation capability means that attackers can trigger the vulnerability from outside the network boundary, making it especially dangerous for publicly accessible services. The impact extends beyond simple service disruption, as this vulnerability could potentially be chained with other exploits to achieve more severe outcomes, though the immediate effect is limited to denial of service conditions that render the affected system or application unavailable to legitimate users. Organizations using the affected LibTIFF version are particularly vulnerable, as the flaw exists in the core image conversion functionality that is widely deployed across various platforms and applications.
The mitigation strategy for CVE-2016-5102 requires immediate action to upgrade to a patched version of LibTIFF, specifically versions 4.0.7 or later where the buffer overflow has been addressed through proper bounds checking and memory allocation validation. System administrators should also implement input validation measures that reject suspicious image files before they reach the gif2tiff processing stage, and consider deploying sandboxing techniques to isolate image conversion processes. Additionally, network monitoring should be enhanced to detect unusual patterns of image file processing that might indicate exploitation attempts. The vulnerability demonstrates the importance of proper memory management and input validation in image processing libraries, aligning with ATT&CK technique T1203 for legitimate user execution and T1499 for network denial of service attacks. Organizations should also conduct comprehensive vulnerability assessments to identify other potentially affected systems that might be using vulnerable versions of LibTIFF or similar libraries that could present analogous buffer overflow risks.