TI-2021-12286 Aliases CVE-2021-32617

Denial of service in Exiv2

LOW 27CWE-400Published 2021-05-17 · Updated 2024-08-03

Key facts

Attack vector: Local
Privileges required: None
User interaction: Required
Attack complexity: Low
Impact type: Denial of service
Confidentiality · integrity · availability: None · None · High
Fix status: Partial Red Hat: 2 fixed, 3 without a fix

Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · NVD. Fix status from CNA and Red Hat. Impact type from CWE-400.

Summary

Exiv2 is a command-line utility and C++ library for reading, writing, deleting, and modifying the metadata of image files. An inefficient algorithm (quadratic complexity) was found in Exiv2 versions v0.27.3 and earlier. The inefficient algorithm is triggered when Exiv2 is used to write metadata into a crafted image file. An attacker could potentially exploit the vulnerability to cause a denial of service, if they can trick the victim into running Exiv2 on a crafted image file. The bug is fixed in version v0.27.4. Note that this bug is only triggered when _writing_ the metadata, which is a less frequently used Exiv2 operation than _reading_ the metadata. For example, to trigger the bug in the Exiv2 command-line application, you need to add an extra command-line argument such as `rm`.

Why it matters now

EPSS 0.01174 67th percentileScored 2026-11-07

Fix Partial Red Hat: 1 advisoryRed Hat: 2 fixed, 3 without a fix

SSVC decision points

Not available: CISA has not published SSVC decision points for this record.

Affected products

Vendor	Product	Affected versions	Fixed in	Status	Source
Exiv2	exiv2	up to 0.27.3	—	No fix listed	CNA

exiv2 VendorExiv2 Affected up to 0.27.3 Fixed in — No fix listed CNA

CPE configurations NVD · 3

CPE	Versions	Role	Vendor
cpe:2.3:a:exiv2:exiv2::::::::	before 0.27.4	Vulnerable	Exiv2
cpe:2.3:o:fedoraproject:fedora:33:::::::*	33	Vulnerable	Fedoraproject
cpe:2.3:o:fedoraproject:fedora:34:::::::*	34	Vulnerable	Fedoraproject

cpe:2.3:a:exiv2:exiv2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions before 0.27.4 Vulnerable ·Exiv2
cpe:2.3:o:fedoraproject:fedora:33:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 33 Vulnerable ·Fedoraproject
cpe:2.3:o:fedoraproject:fedora:34:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 34 Vulnerable ·Fedoraproject

Remediation

Red Hat 1 advisory

RHSA-2021:4173 Released 2021-11-09 · Red Hat rating Moderate
exiv2 security, bug fix, and enhancement update
- Red Hat CodeReady Linux Builder (v. 8) exiv2-devel-0.27.4-5.el8, exiv2-doc-0.27.4-5.el8
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 8) exiv2-0.27.4-5.el8, exiv2-libs-0.27.4-5.el8

Fixed in the same release

Records fixed by the same vendor advisory or release, as the CNA lists them.

Advisory · 2021-05-13
exiv2 — FEDORA-2021-d1d5a0bf0f
2 records Highest priority Priority LOW 2 LOW
Other records, highest priority first
- TI-2021-10331 Uninitialized variable bug in Exiv2Priority LOW 19
Show all 2 records → Advisory →
Advisory · 2021-05-13
exiv2 — FEDORA-2021-8253c78bd7
2 records Highest priority Priority LOW 2 LOW
Other records, highest priority first
- TI-2021-10331 Uninitialized variable bug in Exiv2Priority LOW 19
Show all 2 records → Advisory →

Show 2 more groups

Advisory · 2021-05-13
exiv2 — FEDORA-2021-bdba47348c
2 records Highest priority Priority LOW 2 LOW
Other records, highest priority first
- TI-2021-10331 Uninitialized variable bug in Exiv2Priority LOW 19
Show all 2 records → Advisory →
Advisory · 2021-05-13
exiv2 — FEDORA-2021-8917c5d9d2
2 records Highest priority Priority LOW 2 LOW
Other records, highest priority first
- TI-2021-10331 Uninitialized variable bug in Exiv2Priority LOW 19
Show all 2 records → Advisory →

Vendor assessments

Red Hat

Red Hat rating: Low. Red Hat's page for this CVE →

Product	Status	Plan or fix
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6	Affected	No fix planned: Out of support scope
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7	Affected	No fix planned: Out of support scope
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8	Affected	No fix yet: Fix deferred
Red Hat CodeReady Linux Builder (v. 8)	Fixed	RHSA-2021:4173
Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 8)	Fixed	RHSA-2021:4173

Not affected: 1 product

Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9

Timeline

2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2021-32617

References

Patch 2

Advisory 5

TI-2020-13478 Buffer Overflow vulnerability in tEXtToDataBuf function in pngimage.cpp in Exiv2 0.27.1… CVSS 3.1HIGH 7.8
TI-2025-19560 Use After Free in Exiv2 CVSS 4.0MEDIUM 5.3
TI-2020-13491 An uncontrolled memory allocation in DataBufdata(subBox.length-sizeof(box)) function of… CVSS 3.1MEDIUM 6.5
TI-2018-08245 Exiv2 0.26 has a heap-based buffer overflow in getData in preview.cpp. CVSS 3.0CRITICAL 9.8
TI-2025-33923 Exiv2 Segmentation Faults in Exiv2::EpsImage::writeMetadata() via crafted EPS file CVSS 4.0LOW 1.8
TI-2019-06608 An issue was discovered in Exiv2 0.27. CVSS 3.0HIGH 8.8

See all 123 →

Sources

This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. Sources and licences