CVE-2008-6218 Denial of service in n/a
A memory leak in libpng allows attackers to cause denial of service via crafted PNG files, requiring user interaction to open the file.
- 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-2008-6218?
CVE-2008-6218 is a high-severity denial of service vulnerability in Libpng Libpng, published on 20 Feb 2009. 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
Memory leak in the png_handle_tEXt function in pngrutil.c in libpng before 1.2.33 rc02 and 1.4.0 beta36 allows context-dependent attackers to cause a denial of service (memory exhaustion) via a crafted PNG file.
Weakness: CWE-399
Which versions are affected by CVE-2008-6218?
It affects 1 product.
Products include Libpng Libpng.
How do I fix CVE-2008-6218?
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-2008-6218 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2008-6218 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 GHSA-8p6q-rjmr-6gp9.