Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
GOCR, an optical character recognition tool, has a stack-based buffer overflow in image-processing code. If an exposed workflow processes malicious or malformed OCR input, the result could include process crashes and possibly broader memory-safety impact. The sources do not provide CVSS, confirmed exploitation, or complete fix details.
Executive priority
Prioritize based on deployment context. This is higher concern for document-ingestion or OCR services handling untrusted files, and lower concern where GOCR is absent or only used on trusted internal inputs.
Technical view
CVE-2021-33479 affects gocr through 0.53-20200802 in measure_pitch() within pgm2asc.c. The weakness is listed as CWE-119. Public references include SourceForge, Red Hat Bugzilla, and a Gentoo advisory, but the bundle does not include exploitability conditions, CVSS metrics, or patch specifics.
Likely exposure
Exposure is most likely where GOCR is installed on servers, desktops, or automation pipelines that process image/OCR files from users, email, tickets, uploads, or third parties.
Exploitation context
No active exploitation is cited, and the CVE is not marked as CISA KEV. Treat exploitation status as unconfirmed. Risk depends heavily on whether attackers can influence files processed by GOCR.
Researcher notes
Evidence is limited to a vulnerability description and references. The bundle supports a stack buffer overflow in measure_pitch(), but does not establish reachable attack paths, reliability, code execution, or a specific fixed upstream version.
Mitigation direction
- Identify all systems and containers with GOCR installed.
- Check vendor or distribution advisories for fixed GOCR packages.
- Upgrade GOCR where a fixed package is available.
- Avoid processing untrusted OCR inputs until patched or isolated.
- Run GOCR workloads with least privilege and sandboxing where practical.
Validation and detection
- Inventory GOCR package names and versions across endpoints and images.
- Flag versions at or before 0.53-20200802 for review.
- Confirm whether GOCR processes user-supplied or third-party files.
- Review batch jobs, upload handlers, and email-processing workflows using OCR.
- Verify vendor advisory status before declaring remediation complete.
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-119: 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-2021-33479 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
- Unknown
- CVSS
- Not scored
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
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.
CVSS and timeline data
No CVSS vectors or timeline events were available in the normalized CVE source material.
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1962861CVE reference
- https://sourceforge.net/p/jocr/bugs/39/CVE reference
- GLSA-202401-28CVE reference · vendor-advisory
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.
Improper Restriction of Operations within the Bounds of a Memory Buffer
Improper Restriction of Operations within the Bounds of a Memory Buffer represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.