CVE-2017-5502 in Jasper
Summary
by MITRE
libjasper/jp2/jp2_dec.c in JasPer 1.900.17 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (crash) via vectors involving left shift of a negative value.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 09/08/2025
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2017-5502 resides within the JasPer library version 1.900.17, specifically in the jp2_dec.c file responsible for decoding JPEG 2000 image files. This critical flaw manifests as a denial of service condition that can be exploited remotely by attackers to crash applications utilizing the library. The vulnerability stems from improper handling of negative integer values during bitwise left shift operations, which can lead to undefined behavior and system instability. The flaw represents a classic integer overflow scenario where negative values are subjected to bit manipulation operations that exceed the bounds of the data type.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability involves a specific code path where the library processes JPEG 2000 image headers containing malformed data. When the decoder encounters negative values in certain header fields, it attempts to perform left shift operations without proper validation or bounds checking. This particular flaw falls under the category of CWE-191 Integer Underflow (Wrap or Wraparound) and CWE-194 Unexpected Sign Extension, both of which are well-documented in the Common Weakness Enumeration catalog. The vulnerability can be triggered through crafted JPEG 2000 files that contain maliciously constructed header values, making it particularly dangerous in web applications and file processing systems.
From an operational perspective, this vulnerability poses significant risks to systems that process user-uploaded images or handle external image data sources. Applications using the JasPer library for image processing, including web servers, content management systems, and image editing software, become susceptible to remote crashes. The impact extends beyond simple service disruption as attackers can potentially cause repeated crashes leading to system resource exhaustion and extended downtime. This vulnerability aligns with ATT&CK technique T1499.004 for Network Denial of Service and can be leveraged as part of broader attack campaigns targeting application availability. The exploitability is relatively straightforward, requiring only the creation of a specially crafted JPEG 2000 file that triggers the vulnerable code path during image parsing operations.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2017-5502 should prioritize immediate library updates to versions that address the integer handling issues in the jp2_dec.c file. System administrators should implement input validation and sanitization measures for all image file processing pipelines, particularly when handling untrusted user uploads. Network-level protections such as rate limiting and file type validation can provide additional defense-in-depth measures. Organizations should also consider implementing automated monitoring for application crashes and unusual resource consumption patterns that may indicate exploitation attempts. The vulnerability demonstrates the importance of proper integer arithmetic validation in cryptographic and image processing libraries, emphasizing the need for comprehensive code review processes that examine bitwise operations and integer boundary conditions. Security teams should conduct regular vulnerability assessments of third-party libraries and maintain up-to-date patch management procedures to prevent similar issues from affecting their systems.