CVE-2012-3401
Description
From CVE.org
The t2p_read_tiff_init function in tiff2pdf (tools/tiff2pdf.c) in LibTIFF 4.0.2 and earlier does not properly initialize the T2P context struct pointer in certain error conditions, which allows context-dependent attackers to cause a denial of service (crash) and possibly execute arbitrary code via a crafted TIFF image that triggers a heap-based buffer overflow.
Statement
The Red Hat Security Response Team has rated this issue as having moderate security impact. A future libtiff package update may address this issue in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 and 6. For additional information, refer to the Issue Severity Classification: https://access.redhat.com/security/updates/classification/.
Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) Score Details
Info alert:Important note
CVSS scores for open source components depend on vendor-specific factors (e.g. version or build chain). Therefore, Red Hat's score and impact rating can be different from NVD and other vendors. Red Hat remains the authoritative CVE Naming Authority (CNA) source for its products and services (see Red Hat classifications).
CVSS v2 Score Breakdown
| Red Hat | NVD | cve.org | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Base Score | 6.8 | 6.8 | N/A |
| Attack Vector | Network | Network | N/A |
| Access Complexity | Medium | Medium | N/A |
| Authentication | None | None | N/A |
| Confidentiality Impact | Partial | Partial | N/A |
| Integrity Impact | Partial | Partial | N/A |
| Availability Impact | Partial | Partial | N/A |
Vector
Red Hat: AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P
NVD: AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P
Understanding the Weakness (CWE)
Availability
Technical Impact: DoS: Crash, Exit, or Restart; DoS: Resource Consumption (CPU); DoS: Resource Consumption (Memory)
Buffer overflows generally lead to crashes. Other attacks leading to lack of availability are possible, including putting the program into an infinite loop.
Integrity,Confidentiality,Availability,Access Control
Technical Impact: Execute Unauthorized Code or Commands; Bypass Protection Mechanism; Modify Memory
Buffer overflows often can be used to execute arbitrary code, which is usually outside the scope of a program's implicit security policy. Besides important user data, heap-based overflows can be used to overwrite function pointers that may be living in memory, pointing it to the attacker's code. Even in applications that do not explicitly use function pointers, the run-time will usually leave many in memory. For example, object methods in C++ are generally implemented using function pointers. Even in C programs, there is often a global offset table used by the underlying runtime.
Integrity,Confidentiality,Availability,Access Control,Other
Technical Impact: Execute Unauthorized Code or Commands; Bypass Protection Mechanism; Other
When the consequence is arbitrary code execution, this can often be used to subvert any other security service.
Acknowledgements
This issue was discovered by Huzaifa Sidhpurwala (Red Hat Security Response Team).
Frequently Asked Questions
Not sure what something means? Check out our Security Glossary.
Want to get errata notifications? Sign up here.
