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NVD / CVE Program· CNA mitre

CVE-2020-29385: GNOME gdk-pixbuf (aka GdkPixbuf) before 2.42.2 allows a denial of service (infinite loop) in lzw.c in the function write_indexes.

Noroxi assessment

Priority: Monitor (action score 22/100)

  • The sources we track (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, Metasploit, Nuclei, GitHub) show no public exploit code or exploitation in the wild.
  • Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days: 1.5% (FIRST EPSS); higher than 74.8% of all records.
  • Someone with local access to the system can trigger it. No account or password is required. A user must open a link or visit a page. No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.
  • Fixed version: gdk-pixbuf (Alpine:v3.11) 2.40.0-r2; gdk-pixbuf (Alpine:v3.12) 2.40.0-r4; gdk-pixbuf (Alpine:v3.13) 2.42.2-r0.

Low priority for now. Upgrade to gdk-pixbuf (Alpine:v3.11) 2.40.0-r2; gdk-pixbuf (Alpine:v3.12) 2.40.0-r4; gdk-pixbuf (Alpine:v3.13) 2.42.2-r0 or later.

Generated automatically from the record's data: CVSS (NVD and CNA), CISA KEV and SSVC, FIRST EPSS, exploit sources, fixed versions. How we calculate it

Primary sources: NVD · CVE.org · FIRST EPSS

GNOME gdk-pixbuf (aka GdkPixbuf) before 2.42.2 allows a denial of service (infinite loop) in lzw.c in the function write_indexes. if c->self_code equals 10, self->code_table[10].extends will assign the value 11 to c. The next execution in the loop will assign self->code_table[11].extends to c, which will give the value of 10. This will make the loop run infinitely. This bug can, for example, be triggered by calling this function with a GIF image with LZW compression that is crafted in a special way.

MediumCVSS 5.5 · v3.1—No exploit Fix available
Published
Dec 25, 2020
Updated
Jun 16, 2026
EPSS
1.5% · 74th percentile

Report tools

JSON

Action score

22

Monitor

Low priority for now.

CVSS
22 / 40 · 5.5 / 10
CISA KEV
0 / 30 · Not listed
EPSS
0 / 30 · 1.5%

Get told when this record changes

  • Not in KEV: no record of exploitation in the wild
  • No public exploit code on record
  • A fix has been released

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When you'll hear from us

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  • when exploit code appears or is weaponized
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Noroxi analysis

What does it mean in your environment?

The assessment above is generated automatically from the record's data; it doesn't know your environment. Our team verifies on your systems whether this vulnerability is actually exploitable and which mitigation is enough.

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Affected systems

Is your version affected?

Pick the product and type the version you run. It's compared with this record's version ranges in your browser; the version isn't sent anywhere.

VendorProduct
gnomegdk-pixbuf
canonicalubuntu linux
fedoraprojectfedora

Affected versions

NVD version ranges (for catalog products). Add the product to your stack with a version and matching uses these.

  • canonical ubuntu linux20.04
  • canonical ubuntu linux20.10
  • fedoraproject fedora33
  • fedoraproject fedora34
  • gnome gdk-pixbufafter 2.39.2 · before 2.42.2

Package-level exposure

OSV and GitHub Advisory data: ecosystem, package and range. SBOM matching uses this table.

EcosystemPackageAffected rangeFix
Alpine:v3.11gdk-pixbufbefore 2.40.0-r22.40.0-r2
Alpine:v3.12gdk-pixbufbefore 2.40.0-r42.40.0-r4
Alpine:v3.13gdk-pixbufbefore 2.42.2-r02.42.2-r0
Debian:12gdk-pixbufbefore 2.42.2+dfsg-12.42.2+dfsg-1
openSUSE:Leap 15.2gdk-pixbufbefore 2.40.0-lp152.2.3.12.40.0-lp152.2.3.1
openSUSE:Tumbleweedgdk-pixbufbefore 2.42.6-3.22.42.6-3.2
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP2gdk-pixbufbefore 2.40.0-3.3.12.40.0-3.3.1

Same product

gnome: all records

Other highest-scoring records for the same primary product.

  • CVE-2011-2897gdk-pixbuf through 2.31.1 has GIF loader buffer overflow when initializing decompression tables due to an input validation flaw
    40Plan
  • CVE-2021-20240A flaw was found in gdk-pixbuf in versions before 2.42.0.
    36Monitor
  • CVE-2017-1000422Gnome gdk-pixbuf 2.36.8 and older is vulnerable to several integer overflow in the gif_get_lzw function resulting in memory corruption and p
    36Monitor

Published before and after this one in the same product

  • ← EarlierCVE-2017-2870Sep 5, 2017 · An exploitable integer overflow vulnerability exists in the tiff_image_parse functionality of Gdk-Pixbuf 2.36.6 when compiled with Clang.
    32Monitor
  • ← EarlierCVE-2017-12447Mar 7, 2019 · GdkPixBuf (aka gdk-pixbuf), possibly 2.32.2, as used by GNOME Nautilus 3.14.3 on Ubuntu 16.04, allows attackers to cause a denial of service
    31Monitor
  • Later →CVE-2021-46829Jul 24, 2022 · GNOME GdkPixbuf (aka GDK-PixBuf) before 2.42.8 allows a heap-based buffer overflow when compositing or clearing frames in GIF files, as demo
    31Monitor

Remediation

Which version to upgrade to

Fix versions compiled from the vendor, package registries and Microsoft. Verify the vendor's note before upgrading.

Product / packageFixed versionSource
alpine:gdk-pixbuf2.40.0-r2 · Alpine:v3.11Package registry (OSV)
debian:gdk-pixbuf2.42.2+dfsg-1 · Debian:12Package registry (OSV)
opensuse:gdk-pixbuf2.40.0-lp152.2.3.1 · openSUSE:Leap 15.2Package registry (OSV)
suse:gdk-pixbuf2.40.0-3.3.1 · SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP2Package registry (OSV)

Exploit status

No known public exploit

No public exploit has been observed yet. That doesn't mean you're safe, only that the bar is a little higher.

Research context

For pentesters and researchers: attack profile, score disagreement, timeline, patch commits, credits, variant and chain candidates, bug bounty scope. All derived from existing data; no exploit code.

Timeline

From publication to today: proof of concept, Metasploit module, CISA KEV and fix record. Dates are as reported by the sources.

No dated events beyond publication.

EPSS, last 120 days

FIRST EPSS daily score; only changes of 0.01 or more are recorded (step chart).

Patch and commit links

Commit, PR and diff links among the references. A starting point for patch-diffing and variant hunting; fixes, not exploits.

No commit or PR link among the references.

Credits

All researchers

Finders, reporters and analysts named in the CNA record. Click a name for that researcher’s other records.

No credits in the CNA record.

Variant candidates

Same product, same weakness class, within 18 months. If the patch missed the root cause, the sibling bug is here.

No nightly-computed relations.

Chain candidates

An authentication bypass and a privilege-requiring bug in the same product, published close together: combined they may become an unauthenticated path.

—

Bug bounty scope

No known public program.

Source: bounty-targets-data (public HackerOne, Bugcrowd, Intigriti, YesWeHack listings).

Technical details

Attack conditions

  • Someone with local access to the system can trigger it.
  • No account or password is required.
  • A user must open a link or visit a page.
  • No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.

If successful

Confidentiality
none
Integrity
none
Availability
high · the service can be disrupted
Attack vector
Local
Attack complexity
Low
Privileges required
None
User interaction
Required
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality impact
None
Integrity impact
None
Availability impact
High

Weakness class (CWE)

CWE-835 · Loop with Unreachable Exit Condition ('Infinite Loop')

CVSS vector

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

nvd-primary

Attack context

MITRE CAPEC attack patterns and ATT&CK techniques for this weakness class (CWE). A starting point for detection rules and threat hunting.

MITRE has no CAPEC/ATT&CK mapping for this CWE.

Change log

  1. Fix✗ → ✓

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References

Show all references (7 more)

Vendor advisories and official records. Exploit/PoC links are deliberately left out.

All records