CVE-2025-61144
📋 TL;DR
A stack overflow vulnerability in libtiff's readSeparateStripsIntoBuffer function allows attackers to execute arbitrary code or cause denial of service by processing specially crafted TIFF images. This affects all applications using vulnerable libtiff versions to parse TIFF files.
💻 Affected Systems
- libtiff
- Any software using libtiff library (image viewers, document processors, web applications)
📦 What is this software?
Libtiff by Libtiff
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Remote code execution with the privileges of the application processing the TIFF file, potentially leading to full system compromise.
Likely Case
Application crash (denial of service) when processing malicious TIFF files, with potential for limited code execution depending on memory protections.
If Mitigated
Application crash with no code execution if ASLR, stack canaries, or other memory protections are effective.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires crafting a malicious TIFF file that triggers the overflow. Public proof-of-concept exists in the references.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: Fixed in libtiff 4.7.2 and later
Vendor Advisory: https://gitlab.com/libtiff/libtiff/-/issues/740
Restart Required: Yes
Instructions:
1. Update libtiff to version 4.7.2 or later. 2. Rebuild any statically linked applications. 3. Restart services using libtiff.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Disable TIFF processing
allPrevent applications from processing TIFF files where possible
Use memory protection features
linuxEnable ASLR, stack canaries, and other memory protection mechanisms
echo 2 > /proc/sys/kernel/randomize_va_space
Recompile with -fstack-protector-all
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Implement strict file upload validation to reject suspicious TIFF files
- Run vulnerable applications with reduced privileges and in sandboxed environments
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check libtiff version: tiffinfo --version or ldd on binaries to check linked libtiff versionCheck Version:
tiffinfo --version 2>/dev/null || strings /usr/lib*/libtiff*.so* | grep 'LIBTIFF, Version'Verify Fix Applied:
Verify libtiff version is 4.7.2 or later: tiffinfo --version | grep -q 'Version 4\.7\.[2-9]\|Version 4\.[8-9]'📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Application crashes with segmentation faults when processing TIFF files
- Memory corruption errors in application logs
Network Indicators:
- Unusual TIFF file uploads to web applications
- TIFF files with abnormal structure or sizes
SIEM Query:
source="application.log" AND ("segmentation fault" OR "stack overflow" OR "SIGSEGV") AND "tiff"🔗 References
- https://gist.github.com/optionGo/5ad17e96a0a40f03578dd6c9f8645952
- https://gitlab.com/libtiff/libtiff/-/commit/09f53a86cf26dfd961925227e59e180db617f26d
- https://gitlab.com/libtiff/libtiff/-/commit/88cf9dbb48f6e172629795ecffae35d5052f68aa
- https://gitlab.com/libtiff/libtiff/-/issues/740
- https://gitlab.com/libtiff/libtiff/-/merge_requests/757
