Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
CVE-2021-37618 is a denial-of-service issue in Exiv2, an image metadata tool and library. A crafted image can crash Exiv2 when a user or workflow prints image metadata in a specific ICC profile path. Business urgency is moderate: exposure depends on using vulnerable Exiv2 versions and processing untrusted images with that less common operation.
Executive priority
Treat this as a targeted reliability fix, not an emergency breach event. Prioritize patching systems that process images from customers, partners, uploads, or email attachments. Lower priority is reasonable for isolated internal tools that do not process untrusted images or do not use ICC profile metadata printing.
Technical view
Exiv2 versions v0.27.4 and earlier contain a CWE-125 out-of-bounds read in Exiv2::Jp2Image::printStructure. The trigger is a crafted image file processed while printing the image ICC profile. CVSS is 4.7, with local attack vector, high complexity, required user interaction, and high availability impact only.
Likely exposure
Organizations are mainly exposed where Exiv2 is installed in desktop tooling, media processing scripts, CI jobs, or backend image pipelines. Risk is higher if those workflows process externally supplied images and invoke ICC profile metadata printing. The provided sources identify Exiv2 only; no other affected products are established.
Exploitation context
The source bundle does not show CISA KEV listing or active exploitation. Exploitation requires user interaction: Exiv2 must process a crafted image and exercise the ICC profile printing path. The likely impact is application crash or service disruption, not confidentiality or integrity compromise.
Researcher notes
The advisory scope is narrow: Exiv2 <=0.27.4, out-of-bounds read, denial of service, crafted image input, and ICC profile print path. The fix is stated as v0.27.5. No source in the bundle supports remote code execution, data theft, broad product impact, or active exploitation.
Mitigation direction
- Upgrade Exiv2 to v0.27.5 or a later vendor-supported package.
- Apply distribution security updates from Fedora, Gentoo, or your operating system vendor.
- Avoid processing untrusted images with vulnerable Exiv2 builds where possible.
- Limit or disable ICC profile metadata printing in vulnerable automated workflows.
- Check vendor guidance if pinned packages cannot be upgraded promptly.
Validation and detection
- Inventory Exiv2 installations and flag versions v0.27.4 or earlier.
- Review scripts and services that process externally supplied image files.
- Identify workflows that print ICC profile metadata with Exiv2.
- Confirm package versions after applying operating system security updates.
- Monitor vulnerable image-processing jobs for crashes or repeated failed metadata extraction.
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-125: Exact CWE lookup
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Open ATT&CK lookupCVE-2021-37618 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
- 4.7 (3.1)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/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.
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:L/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H13.6Primary CVE scoreVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.1 score
4.7MediumVector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- https://github.com/Exiv2/exiv2/security/advisories/GHSA-583f-w9pm-99r2CVE reference
- https://github.com/Exiv2/exiv2/pull/1759CVE reference
- FEDORA-2021-399f869889CVE reference · vendor-advisory
- FEDORA-2021-cbaef8e2d5CVE reference · vendor-advisory
- GLSA-202312-06CVE 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.
Out-of-bounds Read
Out-of-bounds Read represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.