CVE-2017-9937 in LibTIFF
Summary
by MITRE
In LibTIFF 4.0.8, there is a memory malloc failure in tif_jbig.c. A crafted TIFF document can lead to an abort resulting in a remote denial of service attack.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 12/29/2020
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2017-9937 represents a critical memory allocation failure within the LibTIFF library version 4.0.8 specifically within the tif_jbig.c component responsible for handling JBIG compression format processing. This flaw manifests as a malloc failure during the parsing of TIFF documents that utilize JBIG compression, creating a condition where the application encounters a memory allocation error that ultimately results in an abrupt program termination or abort. The issue arises from inadequate error handling mechanisms when processing malformed or specially crafted JBIG compressed data structures within TIFF image files. Attackers can exploit this vulnerability by crafting malicious TIFF documents containing malformed JBIG compression data that triggers the malloc failure during the decompression process. When a vulnerable application attempts to process such a crafted file, the memory allocation function fails to acquire the required memory resources, causing the application to terminate unexpectedly and resulting in a remote denial of service condition. This vulnerability affects any software system that relies on LibTIFF 4.0.8 for TIFF image processing, including web applications, image processing servers, and document management systems that accept user-uploaded TIFF files. The impact extends beyond simple service disruption as it can be leveraged by attackers to systematically crash services that process TIFF images, potentially leading to widespread availability issues for critical image processing infrastructure. From a cybersecurity perspective, this vulnerability aligns with CWE-704, which encompasses improper handling of memory allocation failures, and represents a classic example of a resource exhaustion attack vector. The ATT&CK framework categorizes this under privilege escalation and denial of service techniques, specifically targeting application stability through memory management flaws. The vulnerability demonstrates how seemingly benign image processing libraries can become attack vectors when they fail to properly validate input data and handle exceptional conditions during processing. The flaw particularly affects systems where TIFF files are processed without proper input sanitization, making it a significant concern for any organization that handles user-generated image content. The root cause lies in the lack of robust error handling within the JBIG decompression code path, where the system fails to gracefully handle memory allocation failures and instead allows the process to abort. This represents a fundamental weakness in the library's defensive programming practices and highlights the importance of implementing proper resource management and error recovery mechanisms in critical system components. Organizations utilizing affected systems should prioritize immediate patching to address this vulnerability and implement additional input validation measures to prevent exploitation. The vulnerability also underscores the broader challenge of ensuring memory safety in image processing libraries and the need for comprehensive testing of edge cases in compression algorithm implementations.