CVE-2023-52355

What it actually does

An out-of-memory condition triggered in TIFFRasterScanlineSize64() when processing a specially crafted TIFF image file smaller than 379 KB, leading to denial of service.

Why it matters to the business

Applications using libtiff may crash or become unresponsive when handling malicious image files, disrupting services that process TIFF images and requiring restarts or resource recovery.

How an attack unfolds

Attacker crafts a small TIFF file that triggers excessive memory allocation in the vulnerable function and delivers it to a target application using libtiff for parsing.

How to fix it

Update libtiff to the fixed version in commit 8b20804fc0ddeaa93667b799b5e1a2a7dc9e3fb2 or later.

How to confirm the fix worked

Verify the installed libtiff version includes the commit 8b20804fc0ddeaa93667b799b5e1a2a7dc9e3fb2; test with crafted TIFF files to ensure no crash.

Typical attack path

1. Craft malicious TIFF file exploiting the size calculation flaw
2. Deliver the file to a vulnerable libtiff-dependent application via email, web upload, or network share
3. Trigger processing of the file to cause out-of-memory condition
4. Resulting denial of service on the affected system

How to detect it

Look for applications crashing with out-of-memory errors when processing TIFF files; check logs for TIFFRasterScanlineSize64 calls with anomalous inputs.

What your security team should do

• Update libtiff to the patched commit immediately
• Implement input validation or sandboxing for TIFF processing
• Monitor for unusual memory usage in image processing applications