Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
This is a denial-of-service flaw in libpng 1.6.34. A crafted PNG file can make affected PNG-processing software crash or stop handling images. The cited impact is availability only, not data theft or tampering.
Executive priority
Treat as a moderate availability risk. Patch during normal security maintenance, faster for public-facing image processing or business-critical media workflows. There is no cited evidence of active exploitation or confidentiality impact in the supplied bundle.
Technical view
The issue is a wrong row_factor calculation in png_check_chunk_length in pngrutil.c. It can cause an integer overflow followed by divide-by-zero when processing a crafted PNG file. CVSS 3.1 is 6.5 with network attack vector, low complexity, no privileges, required user interaction, and high availability impact.
Likely exposure
Exposure is most likely where libpng 1.6.34 or vendor-packaged affected libpng builds process untrusted PNGs, including image upload pipelines, document/media services, desktop viewers, and products embedding libpng. The bundle does not provide complete product/version coverage.
Exploitation context
CISA KEV status is false, and the provided sources do not state active exploitation. Public references include vendor advisories, a SourceForge bug, and an upstream commit, indicating the issue is publicly known and patched in some ecosystems.
Researcher notes
The record names libpng 1.6.34 and maps to CWE-190 and CWE-369. Affected product metadata is sparse, so validation should rely on package advisories, source lineage, and whether PNG input is attacker-controlled. Avoid assuming broader impact without vendor confirmation.
Mitigation direction
- Apply vendor-provided libpng security updates for affected operating systems and products.
- Check Red Hat, Ubuntu, Gentoo, NetApp, and Oracle guidance for applicable packages.
- Prioritize systems that process externally supplied PNG files.
- Temporarily restrict or isolate untrusted PNG processing if updates are unavailable.
- Confirm embedded products with vendors because affected CPE data is incomplete.
Validation and detection
- Inventory installed libpng versions and distro package advisories.
- Identify applications and services that parse user-supplied PNG files.
- Verify vendor security updates referencing CVE-2018-13785 are installed.
- Review crash or availability alerts around image-processing workflows.
- Confirm third-party appliances or bundled software include fixed libpng builds.
Public sources used
Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.
Conservative CVE-to-ATT&CK context
These mappings and lookup hints may be relevant to the vulnerability behavior, CWE, affected product, or exposure path. Glexia-inferred context is not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, CWE, or CVE Program mapping.
ATT&CK lookup starting points
Use these exact CWE pages and searches to review the Glexia ATT&CK library from this CVE's weakness and description context.
CWE-190: Exact CWE lookup
Use the exact CWE identifier as the starting point before reviewing related ATT&CK behavior. Open the exact CWE lookup page first, then review the ATT&CK searches from that MITRE weakness context. This is a Glexia lookup hint, not an official ATT&CK mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupCWE-369: Exact CWE lookup
Use the exact CWE identifier as the starting point before reviewing related ATT&CK behavior. Open the exact CWE lookup page first, then review the ATT&CK searches from that MITRE weakness context. This is a Glexia lookup hint, not an official ATT&CK mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupCVE-2018-13785 mapping review
Open the CVE-to-ATT&CK bridge for reviewed, inferred, or future official mappings tied to this CVE.
Open ATT&CK lookup- Severity
- Medium
- CVSS
- 6.5 (3.1)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
CNA and ADP enrichment extracted from CVE v5
These fields come from the CVE record and ADP containers, not from Glexia's Take. They preserve time-varying source decisions such as CISA SSVC, KEV status, CVSS metrics, and provider references.
SSVC decision data
CVSS vector scores
1 official scoreWe collect every scored CVSS vector available in the official CNA and ADP containers. When more than one version is present, the table keeps the source vectors side by side instead of collapsing them into the highest score.
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H2.83.6CISA-ADPVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.1 score
6.5MediumVector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Vulnerability timeline
Timeline events are normalized from CVE metadata, CNA source timelines, ADP timelines, and KEV metadata when present.
- CVE reservedCVE Program
The CVE ID was reserved by the assigning CNA.
- CVE publishedCVE Program
The CVE record was published.
- CVE updatedCVE Program
The CVE record metadata indicates this as the latest update time.
ADP provider summaries
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- RHSA-2018:3007CVE reference, mitre · vendor-advisory, x_refsource_REDHAT
- https://security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20181018-0001/CVE reference, mitre · x_refsource_CONFIRM
- RHSA-2018:3779CVE reference, mitre · vendor-advisory, x_refsource_REDHAT
- RHSA-2018:3534CVE reference, mitre · vendor-advisory, x_refsource_REDHAT
- RHSA-2018:3003CVE reference, mitre · vendor-advisory, x_refsource_REDHAT
- USN-3712-1CVE reference, mitre · vendor-advisory, x_refsource_UBUNTU
- RHSA-2018:3002CVE reference, mitre · vendor-advisory, x_refsource_REDHAT
- https://sourceforge.net/p/libpng/bugs/278/CVE reference, mitre · x_refsource_MISC
- RHSA-2018:3671CVE reference, mitre · vendor-advisory, x_refsource_REDHAT
- RHSA-2018:3852CVE reference, mitre · vendor-advisory, x_refsource_REDHAT
- RHSA-2018:3008CVE reference, mitre · vendor-advisory, x_refsource_REDHAT
- RHSA-2018:3533CVE reference, mitre · vendor-advisory, x_refsource_REDHAT
- RHSA-2018:3001CVE reference, mitre · vendor-advisory, x_refsource_REDHAT
- RHSA-2018:3000CVE reference, mitre · vendor-advisory, x_refsource_REDHAT
- RHSA-2018:3672CVE reference, mitre · vendor-advisory, x_refsource_REDHAT
- https://github.com/glennrp/libpng/commit/8a05766cb74af05c04c53e6c9d60c13fc4d59bf2CVE reference, mitre · x_refsource_MISC
- GLSA-201908-10CVE reference, mitre · vendor-advisory, x_refsource_GENTOO
Products and packages named in the record
CWE details
CWE links open Glexia weakness intelligence pages with official CWE context, developer remediation guidance, and related CVE mappings.
Integer Overflow or Wraparound
Integer Overflow or Wraparound represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.
Divide By Zero
Divide By Zero represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.