Skip to content
Noroxi
NVD / CVE Program· CNA redhat

CVE-2021-20240: A flaw was found in gdk-pixbuf in versions before 2.42.0.

Noroxi assessment

Priority: Monitor (action score 36/100)

  • 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: 2.3% (FIRST EPSS); higher than 83.7% of all records.
  • Anyone who can reach it over the internet 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-r1; gdk-pixbuf (Alpine:v3.12) 2.40.0-r3; gdk-pixbuf (Debian:12) 2.42.2+dfsg-1.

Low priority for now. Upgrade to gdk-pixbuf (Alpine:v3.11) 2.40.0-r1; gdk-pixbuf (Alpine:v3.12) 2.40.0-r3; gdk-pixbuf (Debian:12) 2.42.2+dfsg-1 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

A flaw was found in gdk-pixbuf in versions before 2.42.0. An integer wraparound leading to an out of bounds write can occur when a crafted GIF image is loaded. An attacker may cause applications to crash or could potentially execute code on the victim system. The highest threat from this vulnerability is to data confidentiality and integrity as well as system availability.

HighCVSS 8.8 · v3.1—No exploit Fix available
Published
May 28, 2021
Updated
Jun 16, 2026
EPSS
2.3% · 83th percentile

Report tools

JSON

Action score

36

Monitor

Low priority for now.

CVSS
35 / 40 · 8.8 / 10
CISA KEV
0 / 30 · Not listed
EPSS
1 / 30 · 2.3%

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

If any of these changes, we'll tell you in the daily email digest.

Follow CVE-2021-20240

When you'll hear from us

  • when it enters CISA KEV
  • when exploit code appears or is weaponized
  • when the record is updated (including a fixed version)
  • when EPSS rises 20 points in a week

One daily email digest (06:00 UTC); connect a webhook for KEV listings and weaponized exploits instantly.

Your free account also gets you

  • Stack alerts: add the products and versions you run, get the new CVEs that affect them
  • Uptime monitoring: 1 site, instant email when it goes down
  • Add your domain: subdomains and takeover risk scanned every week (1 domain)
  • 10 scans an hour on the security tools (3 a day without an account), an API key and MCP
  • All your scans in one panel: findings, what changed in the last scan, a report per domain or per client (PDF, share link)
All free tools

Sign up with email · Have an account? Sign in

Free account, no card. Unfollow any time.

Don't want an account? Get "Exploited this week" by email every MondayDon't want an account? RSS feed for gnome records
Is your version affected? Check it

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.

We use this product, ask for help

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
fedoraprojectfedora

Affected versions

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

  • fedoraproject fedora33
  • fedoraproject fedora34
  • gnome gdk-pixbufbefore 2.39.2

Versions reported by the vendor

Affected version ranges reported by the assigning authority (redhat). Independent of NVD's CPE analysis and usually ahead of it.

  • n/a gdk-pixbuf

    • gdk-pixbuf 2.42.0affected

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-r12.40.0-r1
Alpine:v3.12gdk-pixbufbefore 2.40.0-r32.40.0-r3
Debian:12gdk-pixbufbefore 2.42.2+dfsg-12.42.2+dfsg-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-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…
    36Monitor
  • CVE-2017-2870An exploitable integer overflow vulnerability exists in the tiff_image_parse functionality of Gdk-Pixbuf 2.36.6 when compiled with Clang.
    32Monitor

Published before and after this one in the same product

  • ← 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…
    31Monitor
  • ← EarlierCVE-2020-29385Dec 25, 2020 · GNOME gdk-pixbuf (aka GdkPixbuf) before 2.42.2 allows a denial of service (infinite loop) in lzw.c in the function write_indexes.
    22Monitor
  • 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…
    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-r1 · Alpine:v3.11Package registry (OSV)
debian:gdk-pixbuf2.42.2+dfsg-1 · Debian:12Package 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.

No history yet (it accumulates with the daily EPSS job).

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

  • Anyone who can reach it over the internet 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
high · data can be read
Integrity
high · data or configuration can be modified
Availability
high · the service can be disrupted
Attack vector
Network
Attack complexity
Low
Privileges required
None
User interaction
Required
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality impact
High
Integrity impact
High
Availability impact
High

Weakness class (CWE)

CWE-191 · Integer Underflow (Wrap or Wraparound)

CVSS vector

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

For records you follow, these changes also arrive as notifications. →

References

Show all references (3 more)

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

All records