Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
A malformed TIFF file can make LibTIFF's tiffcrop utility read outside expected memory, causing a crash or service disruption. The main business risk is denial of service in systems or workflows that process TIFF files with affected LibTIFF versions.
Executive priority
Schedule normal-priority remediation, accelerated for systems that automatically process external TIFF files. The impact is disruption and limited information exposure, not confirmed active exploitation in the provided evidence.
Technical view
CVE-2023-0798 is a CWE-125 out-of-bounds read in LibTIFF 4.4.0 tiffcrop, reported in tools/tiffcrop.c around line 3400. The CVSS 3.1 score is 6.8, with low complexity and high availability impact. The listed fix for source builds is commit afaabc3e.
Likely exposure
Exposure is most likely where libtiff versions up to 4.4.0, or distro packages derived from them, process TIFF files. TIFF handling may exist in image conversion jobs, document workflows, scanners, desktop utilities, or products that embed LibTIFF.
Exploitation context
The bundle states denial of service via a crafted TIFF file. KEV is false, and the provided sources do not show confirmed active exploitation. Treat this as file-processing risk rather than remote unauthenticated network compromise unless another product advisory says otherwise.
Researcher notes
Focus validation on package provenance and whether tiffcrop or linked LibTIFF tooling handles attacker-supplied files. The sources name the bug class, affected version range, and source commit, but do not provide broad exploit telemetry.
Mitigation direction
- Update LibTIFF or OS tiff packages using vendor security advisories.
- For source builds, include commit afaabc3e or later vendor-confirmed fixes.
- Reduce processing of untrusted TIFF files until patched.
- Check downstream product advisories, including NetApp, for embedded exposure.
- Prioritize systems where TIFF processing supports business-critical workflows.
Validation and detection
- Inventory installed libtiff and tiff package versions across endpoints and servers.
- Check source-built LibTIFF trees for commit afaabc3e or equivalent patch.
- Confirm image-processing pipelines do not rely on vulnerable tiffcrop binaries.
- Review Debian, Gentoo, and product advisories for fixed package status.
- Run authenticated vulnerability scanning after patch deployment.
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
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-2023-0798 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
- 6.8 (3.1)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/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:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:H2.54.2Primary CVE scoreVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.1 score
6.8MediumVector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:H
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- https://gitlab.com/libtiff/libtiff/-/commit/afaabc3e50d4e5d80a94143f7e3c997e7e410f68CVE reference
- https://gitlab.com/libtiff/libtiff/-/issues/492CVE reference
- https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/cves/-/blob/master/2023/CVE-2023-0798.jsonCVE reference
- [debian-lts-announce] 20230221 [SECURITY] [DLA 3333-1] tiff security updateCVE reference · mailing-list
- DSA-5361CVE reference · vendor-advisory
- https://security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20230316-0003/CVE reference
- GLSA-202305-31CVE 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.