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CVE-2016-6234 Lepton Project CVE debrief

CVE-2016-6234 is a denial-of-service vulnerability in Dropbox Lepton 1.0. NVD says the issue is in process_file in lepton/jpgcoder.cc, where a crafted JPEG can crash the program. The weakness is categorized as CWE-20 (improper input validation), and the NVD CVSS v3.0 vector emphasizes availability impact.

Vendor
Lepton Project
Product
Lepton
CVSS
MEDIUM 5.5
CISA KEV
Not listed in stored evidence
Original CVE published
2017-02-02
Original CVE updated
2026-05-13
Advisory published
2017-02-02
Advisory updated
2026-05-13

Who should care

Teams that use or package Dropbox Lepton 1.0, especially anywhere untrusted JPEG files may be processed or converted. Administrators, build/package maintainers, and security teams should care most where a crash could interrupt services or pipelines.

Technical summary

According to the NVD record, CVE-2016-6234 affects lepton:1.0 and can lead to a crash in process_file within lepton/jpgcoder.cc when handling a crafted JPEG. The NVD assigns CVSS v3.0 AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H and maps the issue to CWE-20. The published references include an oss-security mailing list post and GitHub issue #26 for Lepton.

Defensive priority

Medium. The impact is availability-only, but the affected component processes attacker-controlled image input, so environments that routinely ingest external JPEGs should prioritize verification, patching, or removal of the vulnerable version.

Recommended defensive actions

  • Confirm whether Dropbox Lepton 1.0 is deployed in your environment or embedded in downstream tooling.
  • Review any workflows that accept untrusted JPEG files and treat them as higher risk for crash-triggering input.
  • Check the referenced oss-security post and GitHub issue for vendor/community remediation guidance.
  • Upgrade or replace the affected Lepton version if you still depend on it.
  • If immediate remediation is not possible, isolate image-processing components and monitor for crashes or unexpected restarts when processing external files.

Evidence notes

Official source material ties this CVE to Lepton 1.0 and a crash in process_file in lepton/jpgcoder.cc. The NVD record lists CWE-20 and CVSS v3.0 AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H. CVE references point to http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2016/07/17/6 and https://github.com/dropbox/lepton/issues/26. The user-facing description says remote attackers can trigger the crash via a crafted JPEG file; the NVD vector also indicates user interaction.

Official resources

CVE-2016-6234 was published on 2017-02-02. The source references point to an oss-security post and a GitHub issue from 2016, indicating community disclosure and patch discussion before publication in the CVE record.