CVE-2018-10971 in FLIF
Summary
by MITRE
An issue was discovered in Free Lossless Image Format (FLIF) 0.3. The Plane function in image/image.hpp allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (attempted excessive memory allocation) via a crafted file.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 03/11/2023
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2018-10971 represents a critical denial of service weakness within the Free Lossless Image Format (FLIF) 0.3 implementation. This issue specifically targets the Plane function located in the image/image.hpp file, which serves as a fundamental component in the image processing pipeline of the FLIF library. The flaw enables remote attackers to manipulate the memory allocation behavior through the careful crafting of malicious FLIF image files, potentially leading to system resource exhaustion and service unavailability.
The technical mechanism underlying this vulnerability involves improper input validation and memory management within the Plane function implementation. When a maliciously constructed FLIF file is processed, the function attempts to allocate excessive memory resources without adequate bounds checking or resource limitation mechanisms. This behavior aligns with CWE-770, which describes the allocation of resources without proper limits, creating opportunities for resource exhaustion attacks. The vulnerability demonstrates how seemingly benign image processing operations can be exploited to consume system resources disproportionately, effectively creating a denial of service condition that can impact any system processing FLIF files.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple service disruption to encompass broader security implications within systems that handle image processing workflows. Attackers can exploit this weakness by uploading or transmitting specially crafted FLIF files to systems that process such images, potentially affecting web applications, image processing servers, or any software components that utilize the vulnerable FLIF library. The remote nature of the attack means that systems do not need to be directly compromised to be affected, as the vulnerability can be triggered through network-based interactions with vulnerable applications. This characteristic places the vulnerability within the ATT&CK framework under the T1499.004 technique, specifically targeting resource exhaustion through manipulation of application memory allocation patterns.
Systems most at risk include content management platforms, web applications that accept user-uploaded images, image processing services, and any infrastructure that relies on FLIF format support without proper input sanitization. The vulnerability affects not only individual applications but also entire service ecosystems that depend on image processing capabilities, potentially creating cascading failures when multiple systems are exposed to the same attack vectors. Organizations using FLIF libraries should consider implementing immediate mitigations including input validation, memory allocation limits, and regular library updates to address this specific weakness in the image processing pipeline. The vulnerability underscores the importance of proper resource management in multimedia processing libraries and highlights the need for comprehensive security testing of image format parsers to prevent similar issues in other multimedia formats.