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CVE-2016-8684 Debian CVE debrief

CVE-2016-8684 affects GraphicsMagick 1.3.25 when a crafted image triggers MagickMalloc in magick/memory.c to fail, leading to a truncation/error path described by NVD as a memory-safety issue (CWE-119). The CVE record was published on 2017-02-15, while the supplied references show patch and advisory activity in 2016 across upstream, distro, and community sources. NVD rates the issue CVSS 7.8 High.

Vendor
Debian
Product
CVE-2016-8684
CVSS
HIGH 7.8
CISA KEV
Not listed in stored evidence
Original CVE published
2017-02-15
Original CVE updated
2026-05-13
Advisory published
2017-02-15
Advisory updated
2026-05-13

Who should care

Administrators and developers running GraphicsMagick 1.3.25 or downstream packages, especially services that accept untrusted images and Linux distributions that shipped affected builds.

Technical summary

NVD lists GraphicsMagick 1.3.25 as vulnerable and maps the issue to CWE-119. The supplied description says a crafted image can drive MagickMalloc in magick/memory.c into a memory allocation failure and a file truncation error for a corrupt file. NVD's CVSS vector is AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H, so remediation should assume meaningful impact even though the public description is brief.

Defensive priority

High — treat as a high-priority patch for any system that processes untrusted images with GraphicsMagick 1.3.25.

Recommended defensive actions

  • Inventory GraphicsMagick versions and identify 1.3.25 or downstream packages.
  • Apply vendor and distro security updates referenced by Debian, openSUSE, and other maintainers.
  • Confirm the patched GraphicsMagick release or package is installed across all image-processing hosts.
  • Isolate image-processing workloads and restrict where untrusted images can be uploaded or decoded.
  • Monitor for parsing failures, truncation errors, and crashes in image-conversion pipelines.
  • Review any applications that call GraphicsMagick directly or through middleware.

Evidence notes

The CVE record and NVD detail are the authoritative sources used here. References include a GraphicsMagick revision, distro advisories from Debian and openSUSE, an oss-security post, a Gentoo blog analysis, and a Red Hat bug, showing patch activity around Sep-Oct 2016 before the CVE publication date of 2017-02-15. No exploit code or weaponized reproduction is included.

Official resources

CVE-2016-8684 was published by NVD/CVE on 2017-02-15 and later modified on 2026-05-13; the supplied references show related advisories and patches discussed in 2016.