# CVE-2016-9448: Null dereference in n/a

> Remote attackers can cause a denial of service via NULL pointer dereference in LibTiff by crafting specific TIFF tags.

- **Severity:** High 7.5 (`CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 27 Jan 2017
- **Updated:** 6 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** ALPINE-CVE-2016-9448, GHSA-fh4x-w635-c436, UBUNTU-CVE-2016-9448

## What is CVE-2016-9448?

CVE-2016-9448 is a high-severity vulnerability in Libtiff Libtiff, published on 27 Jan 2017. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

The TIFFFetchNormalTag function in LibTiff 4.0.6 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (NULL pointer dereference and crash) by setting the tags TIFF_SETGET_C16ASCII or TIFF_SETGET_C32_ASCII to values that access 0-byte arrays.  NOTE: this vulnerability exists because of an incomplete fix for CVE-2016-9297.

Weakness: CWE-476 (NULL Pointer Dereference)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2016-9448?

It affects 2 products.


Products: Libtiff Libtiff, Opensuse Opensuse.

## How do I fix CVE-2016-9448?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2016-9448 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2016-9448 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Libtiff Libtiff

- [CVE-2004-1308](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2004-1308/): Integer overflow in n/a (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2004-0929](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2004-0929/): Memory corruption in n/a (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2025-61144](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-61144/): Memory corruption in n/a (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2016-9533](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-9533/): Memory corruption in n/a (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2016-9534](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-9534/): Memory corruption in n/a (critical 9.8)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2016-9448 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2016-9448 is a high-severity vulnerability in Libtiff Libtiff, published on 27 Jan 2017. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2016-9448 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Libtiff Libtiff. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-9448/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-9448/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2016-9448
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2016-9448
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2016-9448

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-9448/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.