# CVE-2019-14973: Integer overflow in n/a

> An integer overflow in LibTIFF's memory allocation checks can cause application crashes, requiring a patch to prevent denial of service.

- **Severity:** Medium 6.5 (`CVSS:3.1/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 Aug 2019
- **Updated:** 5 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** ALPINE-CVE-2019-14973, DEBIAN-CVE-2019-14973, DLA-1897-1, GHSA-2586-jx35-m7r7, JLSEC-2025-253, RHSA-2020:1688, SUSE-SU-2020:2744-1, UBUNTU-CVE-2019-14973, openSUSE-SU-2020:1561-1, openSUSE-SU-2020:1840-1

## What is CVE-2019-14973?

CVE-2019-14973 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Debian Debian Linux, published on 14 Aug 2019. 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

_TIFFCheckMalloc and _TIFFCheckRealloc in tif_aux.c in LibTIFF through 4.0.10 mishandle Integer Overflow checks because they rely on compiler behavior that is undefined by the applicable C standards. This can, for example, lead to an application crash.

Weakness: CWE-190 (Integer Overflow or Wraparound)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2019-14973?

It affects 4 products.


| Package | Ecosystem | Affected | Fixed in |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `libtiff` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream | All versions | 0:4.0.9-17.el8 |
| `libtiff-debuginfo` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream | All versions | 0:4.0.9-17.el8 |
| `libtiff-debugsource` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream | All versions | 0:4.0.9-17.el8 |
| `libtiff-devel` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream | All versions | 0:4.0.9-17.el8 |
| `libtiff-tools-debuginfo` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream | All versions | 0:4.0.9-17.el8 |
| `libtiff-debuginfo` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::crb | All versions | 0:4.0.9-17.el8 |
| `libtiff-debugsource` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::crb | All versions | 0:4.0.9-17.el8 |
| `libtiff-tools` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::crb | All versions | 0:4.0.9-17.el8 |
| `libtiff-tools-debuginfo` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::crb | All versions | 0:4.0.9-17.el8 |
| `tiff` | SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP1 | All versions | 4.0.9-5.30.28 |
| `tiff` | SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP2 | All versions | 4.0.9-5.30.28 |
| `tiff` | SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Desktop Applications 15 SP1 | All versions | 4.0.9-5.30.28 |
| `tiff` | SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Desktop Applications 15 SP2 | All versions | 4.0.9-5.30.28 |
| `tiff` | SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Package Hub 15 SP1 | All versions | 4.0.9-5.30.28 |
| `tiff` | SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Package Hub 15 SP2 | All versions | 4.0.9-5.30.28 |
| `tiff` | openSUSE:Leap 15.1 | All versions | 4.0.9-lp151.10.3.1 |
| `tiff` | openSUSE:Leap 15.2 | All versions | 4.0.9-lp152.11.3.1 |

Products: Debian Debian Linux, Fedoraproject Fedora, Libtiff Libtiff, Opensuse Leap.

## How do I fix CVE-2019-14973?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2019-14973 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2019-14973 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-2019-14973 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2019-14973 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Debian Debian Linux, published on 14 Aug 2019. 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-2019-14973 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-2019-14973/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-14973/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2019-14973
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2019-14973
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2019-14973

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-14973/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.