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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
CVE-2016-6234
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.