# CVE-2023-47997: Denial of service in n/a

> Attackers can cause a denial of service via an infinite loop in the FreeImage library's bitmap allocation function.

- **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:** 9 Jan 2024
- **Updated:** 4 Nov 2025
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2023-47997, GHSA-m6jf-ggm4-p6ch, UBUNTU-CVE-2023-47997

## What is CVE-2023-47997?

CVE-2023-47997 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Freeimage Project Freeimage, published on 9 Jan 2024. 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 discovered in BitmapAccess.cpp::FreeImage_AllocateBitmap in FreeImage 3.18.0 leads to an infinite loop and allows attackers to cause a denial of service.

Weakness: CWE-835 (Loop with Unreachable Exit Condition)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-47997?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Freeimage Project Freeimage.

## How do I fix CVE-2023-47997?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2023-47997 being exploited?

It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2023-47997 exists.

## Other vulnerabilities in Freeimage Project Freeimage

- [CVE-2025-70968](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-70968/): Use after free in n/a (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2024-31570](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-31570/): Memory corruption in n/a (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2023-47992](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-47992/): Integer overflow in n/a (high 8.8)
- [CVE-2023-47994](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-47994/): Integer overflow in n/a (high 8.8)
- [CVE-2020-24292](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-24292/): Memory corruption in n/a (high 8.8)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2023-47997 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2023-47997 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Freeimage Project Freeimage, published on 9 Jan 2024. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.
Exploitation: It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2023-47997 exists.

Affected product: Freeimage Project Freeimage. 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-2023-47997/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-47997/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-47997
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-47997
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-47997

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-47997/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.