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PatchSiren cyber security CVE debrief

CVE-2016-3177 Giflib Project CVE debrief

CVE-2016-3177 describes multiple use-after-free and double-free flaws in GIFLIB 5.1.2's gifcolor.c. NVD rates the issue Critical, and the published metadata maps it to memory-corruption weaknesses CWE-415 and CWE-416.

Vendor
Giflib Project
Product
Giflib
CVSS
CRITICAL 9.8
CISA KEV
Not listed in stored evidence
Original CVE published
2017-01-23
Original CVE updated
2026-05-13
Advisory published
2017-01-23
Advisory updated
2026-05-13

Who should care

Security teams and developers responsible for software that parses GIFs with GIFLIB, package maintainers shipping GIFLIB 5.1.2, and vulnerability management teams tracking high-severity memory-corruption issues.

Technical summary

The supplied NVD record ties this CVE to gifcolor.c in GIFLIB 5.1.2 and identifies multiple use-after-free and double-free conditions. NVD assigns CVSS 3.0 vector AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H, which indicates a remotely reachable issue with no privileges or user interaction required according to the database entry.

Defensive priority

Immediate. The combination of memory-corruption primitives, Critical CVSS scoring, and a no-auth/no-interaction NVD vector makes this a high-priority remediation item.

Recommended defensive actions

  • Inventory systems and applications that bundle or dynamically link GIFLIB 5.1.2.
  • Check vendor packages and build manifests for any dependency on gifcolor.c or GIFLIB image-parsing code.
  • Apply the vendor fix or move to a non-vulnerable GIFLIB release once validated in your environment.
  • If patching must wait, reduce exposure by limiting untrusted GIF input processing where feasible.
  • Monitor upstream and distribution advisories referenced by the CVE record for remediation guidance.

Evidence notes

The corpus states that the flaw set is in gifcolor.c in GIFLIB 5.1.2 and that the impact and attack vectors are otherwise unspecified in the descriptive summary. NVD provides the formal CVSS 3.0 vector AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H and classifies the weaknesses as CWE-415 and CWE-416. The supplied references include an oss-security mailing list advisory and a SourceForge issue tracker entry marked as a patch reference.

Sources and references

Verified primary and authoritative sources

  • CVE-2016-3177 CVE Program record

    Publisher, destination, and source semantics verified

    URL: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2016-3177

    CVE Program - Official CVE Program record with source-provided CVE metadata.

  • CVE-2016-3177 NVD vulnerability detail

    Publisher, destination, and source semantics verified

    URL: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2016-3177

    NIST National Vulnerability Database - Official NIST NVD detail page and source-specific vulnerability assessment.

Supplemental references

Methodology and review provenance

AI-assisted synthesis based on stored public vulnerability evidence. System validation, approval state, and publication status do not by themselves establish human review of this revision. PatchSiren helps prioritize defensive review and does not prove exposure or remediation on any system.