Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
CVE-2023-52355 is a denial-of-service flaw in libtiff. A specially crafted TIFF file, reportedly under 379 KB, can cause excessive memory use when processed through TIFFRasterScanlineSize64(). Business impact is service disruption where systems automatically ingest or process TIFF images.
Executive priority
Prioritize remediation for internet-facing or automated image-processing systems. This is not described as data theft or code execution, but it can disrupt services with small crafted files.
Technical view
The flaw affects libtiff’s TIFFRasterScanlineSize64() API, which can calculate an excessively large size and trigger out-of-memory conditions. Red Hat lists affected libtiff packages across RHEL 8, RHEL 9, RHEL 10, and some Red Hat AI Inference Server and Discovery container packages. CVSS is 7.5, network attack vector, availability impact only.
Likely exposure
Highest exposure is in servers, applications, containers, or workflows that accept TIFF files from users, partners, email, web uploads, scanners, or automated image pipelines.
Exploitation context
The public sources describe crafted-file denial of service. The provided data does not show CISA KEV listing or confirmed active exploitation. No exploit code or operational attack details are provided here.
Researcher notes
Evidence is strongest for Red Hat-packaged libtiff and referenced Red Hat product containers. The bundle does not provide fixed versions or detailed upstream patch metadata. Treat non-Red Hat exposure as possible where libtiff uses the affected API, pending vendor confirmation.
Mitigation direction
- Apply applicable Red Hat security advisories for affected products and packages.
- Update libtiff or dependent container images through vendor-supported channels.
- Inventory applications that process TIFF files automatically or from untrusted sources.
- Limit untrusted TIFF ingestion where updates cannot be applied promptly.
- Check upstream libtiff issue and vendor guidance for non-Red Hat environments.
Validation and detection
- Identify installed libtiff and compat-libtiff3 package versions across Linux assets.
- Check Red Hat advisories for product-specific affected and fixed package guidance.
- Review container base images for bundled libtiff packages.
- Confirm TIFF-processing services remain stable after vendor updates.
- Monitor memory-exhaustion alerts in image-processing workflows.
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-787: Exact CWE lookup
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Open ATT&CK lookupCVE-2023-52355 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
- High
- CVSS
- 7.5 (3.1)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/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:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H3.93.6redhatVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.1 score
7.5HighVector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/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.
- Source timelineredhat
Made public.
- Source timelineredhat
Reported to Red Hat.
- 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-2025:20801CVE reference, redhat · vendor-advisory, x_refsource_REDHAT
- RHSA-2025:21994CVE reference, redhat · vendor-advisory, x_refsource_REDHAT
- RHSA-2025:23078CVE reference, redhat · vendor-advisory, x_refsource_REDHAT
- RHSA-2025:23079CVE reference, redhat · vendor-advisory, x_refsource_REDHAT
- RHSA-2025:23080CVE reference, redhat · vendor-advisory, x_refsource_REDHAT
- RHSA-2026:3461CVE reference, redhat · vendor-advisory, x_refsource_REDHAT
- RHSA-2026:3462CVE reference, redhat · vendor-advisory, x_refsource_REDHAT
- https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2023-52355CVE reference, redhat · vdb-entry, x_refsource_REDHAT
- RHBZ#2251326CVE reference, redhat · issue-tracking, x_refsource_REDHAT
- https://gitlab.com/libtiff/libtiff/-/issues/621CVE reference, redhat
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 Write
Out-of-bounds Write represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.