# CVE-2017-14988: Denial of service in n/a

> A crafted file can cause excessive memory allocation leading to denial of service in the OpenEXR library, though validity is disputed.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.5 (`CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** A user has to click or open something
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 2 Oct 2017
- **Updated:** 5 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** AZL-45117, DEBIAN-CVE-2017-14988, GHSA-6r6p-p4cc-5qgv, MGASA-2019-0373, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-12-CVE-2017-14988, SUSE-SU-2019:2014-1, SUSE-SU-2019:2043-1, openSUSE-SU-2019:1954-1

## What is CVE-2017-14988?

CVE-2017-14988 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Openexr Openexr, published on 2 Oct 2017. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.

### Official description

Header::readfrom in IlmImf/ImfHeader.cpp in OpenEXR 2.2.0 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (excessive memory allocation) via a crafted file that is accessed with the ImfOpenInputFile function in IlmImf/ImfCRgbaFile.cpp. NOTE: The maintainer and multiple third parties believe that this vulnerability isn't valid

Weakness: CWE-400 (Uncontrolled Resource Consumption)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2017-14988?

It affects 1 product.


| Package | Ecosystem | Affected | Fixed in |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `openexr` | SUSE:Linux Enterprise Desktop 12 SP4 | All versions | 2.1.0-6.13.1 |
| `openexr` | SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Desktop Applications 15 | All versions | 2.2.1-3.9.2 |
| `openexr` | SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Desktop Applications 15 SP1 | All versions | 2.2.1-3.9.2 |
| `openexr` | SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server 12 SP4 | All versions | 2.1.0-6.13.1 |
| `openexr` | SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 12 SP4 | All versions | 2.1.0-6.13.1 |
| `openexr` | SUSE:Linux Enterprise Software Development Kit 12 SP4 | All versions | 2.1.0-6.13.1 |
| `openexr` | SUSE:Linux Enterprise Workstation Extension 12 SP4 | All versions | 2.1.0-6.13.1 |
| `openexr` | openSUSE:Leap 15.0 | All versions | 2.2.1-lp151.4.6.1 |
| `openexr` | openSUSE:Leap 15.1 | All versions | 2.2.1-lp151.4.6.1 |

Products: Openexr Openexr.

## How do I fix CVE-2017-14988?

No fix published yet.

## Is CVE-2017-14988 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2017-14988 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Openexr Openexr

- [CVE-2023-5841](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-5841/): OpenEXR Heap Overflow in Scanline Deep Data Parsing (critical 9.1)
- [CVE-2026-41142](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-41142/): OpenEXR is Vulnerable to Integer overflow in ImageChannel::resize leads to heap OOB write via OpenEXRUtil public API (high 8.8)
- [CVE-2026-42216](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-42216/): OpenEXR: Out-of-bounds read in `IDManifest::init()` during prefix expansion (high 8.8)
- [CVE-2017-9111](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-9111/): OpenEXR invalid write (high 8.8)
- [CVE-2017-9113](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-9113/): Memory corruption in n/a (high 8.8)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2017-14988 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2017-14988 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Openexr Openexr, published on 2 Oct 2017. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2017-14988 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Openexr Openexr. 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-2017-14988/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-14988/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2017-14988
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2017-14988
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2017-14988

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-14988/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.