# CVE-2017-18231: Null dereference in n/a

> Attackers can cause a denial of service in GraphicsMagick by providing a crafted Enhanced Metafile that triggers a NULL pointer dereference.

- **Severity:** Medium 6.5 (`CVSS:3.0/AV:N/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:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** A user has to click or open something
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 14 Mar 2018
- **Updated:** 5 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2017-18231, GHSA-v3qf-q4vv-2q93, UBUNTU-CVE-2017-18231

## What is CVE-2017-18231?

CVE-2017-18231 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Debian Debian Linux, published on 14 Mar 2018. 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

An issue was discovered in GraphicsMagick 1.3.26. A NULL pointer dereference vulnerability was found in the function ReadEnhMetaFile in coders/emf.c, which allows attackers to cause a denial of service via a crafted file.

Weakness: CWE-476 (NULL Pointer Dereference)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2017-18231?

It affects 2 products.


Products: Debian Debian Linux, Graphicsmagick Graphicsmagick.

## How do I fix CVE-2017-18231?

Upgrade to a fixed version.

## Is CVE-2017-18231 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2017-18231 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Debian Debian Linux

- [CVE-2015-3306](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2015-3306/): ProFTPD Improper Access Control (critical 10.0, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2025-49113](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-49113/): RoundCube Webmail Deserialization of Untrusted Data (critical 9.9, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2026-24061](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-24061/): GNU InetUtils Argument Injection (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2025-39682](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-39682/): Linux Kernel Improper Check for Unusual or Exceptional Conditions (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2024-9680](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-9680/): Mozilla Firefox Use-After-Free (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2017-18231 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2017-18231 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Debian Debian Linux, published on 14 Mar 2018. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2017-18231 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Debian Debian Linux. 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-2017-18231/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-18231/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2017-18231
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2017-18231
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2017-18231

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-18231/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.