CVE-2004-0421 Denial of service in n/a
Attackers can cause a denial of service via a malformed PNG image triggering an out-of-bounds read in libpng.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- Not needed
- Attackable
- Over the internet
- Victim action needed
- A user has to click or open something
- Fix
- Available
What is CVE-2004-0421?
CVE-2004-0421 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Libpng Libpng, published on 5 May 2004. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.
Official description
The Portable Network Graphics library (libpng) 1.0.15 and earlier allows attackers to cause a denial of service (crash) via a malformed PNG image file that triggers an error that causes an out-of-bounds read when creating the error message.
Weakness: CWE-125
Which versions are affected by CVE-2004-0421?
It affects 6 products.
Linux distribution packages (24)
libpng Red Hat:enterprise_linux:3::as | All versions | 2:1.2.2-21 |
libpng-debuginfo Red Hat:enterprise_linux:3::as | All versions | 2:1.2.2-21 |
libpng-devel Red Hat:enterprise_linux:3::as | All versions | 2:1.2.2-21 |
libpng10 Red Hat:enterprise_linux:3::as | All versions | 0:1.0.13-12 |
libpng10-debuginfo Red Hat:enterprise_linux:3::as | All versions | 0:1.0.13-12 |
libpng10-devel Red Hat:enterprise_linux:3::as | All versions | 0:1.0.13-12 |
libpng Red Hat:enterprise_linux:3::desktop | All versions | 2:1.2.2-21 |
libpng-debuginfo Red Hat:enterprise_linux:3::desktop | All versions | 2:1.2.2-21 |
libpng-devel Red Hat:enterprise_linux:3::desktop | All versions | 2:1.2.2-21 |
libpng10 Red Hat:enterprise_linux:3::desktop | All versions | 0:1.0.13-12 |
libpng10-debuginfo Red Hat:enterprise_linux:3::desktop | All versions | 0:1.0.13-12 |
libpng10-devel Red Hat:enterprise_linux:3::desktop | All versions | 0:1.0.13-12 |
libpng Red Hat:enterprise_linux:3::es | All versions | 2:1.2.2-21 |
libpng-debuginfo Red Hat:enterprise_linux:3::es | All versions | 2:1.2.2-21 |
libpng-devel Red Hat:enterprise_linux:3::es | All versions | 2:1.2.2-21 |
libpng10 Red Hat:enterprise_linux:3::es | All versions | 0:1.0.13-12 |
libpng10-debuginfo Red Hat:enterprise_linux:3::es | All versions | 0:1.0.13-12 |
libpng10-devel Red Hat:enterprise_linux:3::es | All versions | 0:1.0.13-12 |
libpng Red Hat:enterprise_linux:3::ws | All versions | 2:1.2.2-21 |
libpng-debuginfo Red Hat:enterprise_linux:3::ws | All versions | 2:1.2.2-21 |
libpng-devel Red Hat:enterprise_linux:3::ws | All versions | 2:1.2.2-21 |
libpng10 Red Hat:enterprise_linux:3::ws | All versions | 0:1.0.13-12 |
libpng10-debuginfo Red Hat:enterprise_linux:3::ws | All versions | 0:1.0.13-12 |
libpng10-devel Red Hat:enterprise_linux:3::ws | All versions | 0:1.0.13-12 |
Products include Libpng Libpng, Openpkg Openpkg, Redhat Enterprise Linux, Redhat Enterprise Linux Desktop, Redhat Libpng, Trustix Secure Linux.
How do I fix CVE-2004-0421?
Upgrade to a fixed version.
Upgrade, then put limits on request size, rate and nesting depth so one client cannot exhaust the service. More about Denial of service.
Is CVE-2004-0421 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2004-0421 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Other vulnerabilities in Libpng Libpng
- CVE-2017-12652 Denial of service in n/a
- CVE-2018-14550 Out-of-bounds write in libpng
- CVE-2026-25646 LIBPNG has a heap buffer overflow in png_set_quantize
- CVE-2026-33636 LIBPNG has ARM NEON Palette Expansion Out-of-Bounds Read on AArch64
- CVE-2026-33416 LIBPNG has use-after-free via pointer aliasing in `png_set_tRNS` and `png_set_PLTE`
Sources
Also known as DSA-498, GHSA-f6gc-489h-x492, RHSA-2004:180.