CVE-2019-16138: Image Use After Free Vulnerability

CRITICAL
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-m2pf-hprp-3vqm
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CVSS 9.8
CWE-416
Published
Advisory Summary

CVE-2019-16138 is a CRITICAL (CVSS 9.8) use after free vulnerability (CWE-416: Use After Free) affecting Image libraries in the crates.io ecosystem. The issue involves use after free in image. Remediation is available by upgrading affected packages to version 0.21.3.

CVE-2019-16138 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2019-16138
GHSA Identifier GHSA-m2pf-hprp-3vqm
Severity CRITICAL
CVSS v3.1 Base Score 9.8
CWE Classification CWE-416: Use After Free
Affected Product Image
Package Ecosystem crates.io
Published Date
Last Updated

Security Impact

CVSS: 9.8

The security impact metrics below are parsed directly from the CVSS v3.1 vector string (CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H).

Attack Vector Network (AV:N)
Attack Complexity Low (AC:L)
Privileges Required None (PR:N)
User Interaction None (UI:N)
Scope Unchanged (S:U)
Confidentiality High (C:H)
Integrity High (I:H)
Availability High (A:H)

How to Fix CVE-2019-16138

To remediate this vulnerability, upgrade all affected Image dependencies to a patched release. Both direct and transitive dependencies should be checked, as frameworks or security libraries may pull in vulnerable versions transitively.

image fixed: 0.21.3 
Upgrade image to 0.21.3
Verify Direct and Transitive Dependencies

Run the following command in your project directory to verify that all resolved dependencies use the patched release: 

inspect dependencies for image

How to Check if You Are Affected

To determine whether your application is affected by CVE-2019-16138, inspect your project dependencies for Image:

inspect dependencies for image

Analyze the terminal output to locate any version of Image in your dependency tree. If any resolved version matches the vulnerable ranges listed in the table below (for example, versions earlier than 0.21.3), your application is affected.

Note: Verify declared build manifests and deployed runtime container environments.

Technical Details

Vulnerability Mechanism & Technical Analysis

This vulnerability is classified under CWE-416: Use After Free, where the product reuses or references memory after it has been freed. at some point afterward, the memory may be allocated again and saved in another pointer, while the original pointer references a location somewhere within the new allocation. any operations using the original pointer are no longer valid because the memory "belongs" to the code that operates on the new pointer. In Image, software state validation or input boundaries are circumvented during processing. Review the official source advisory statement below for specific affected components, classes, and reproduction details.

Source Advisory Statement

Affected versions of this crate would call Vec::set_len on an uninitialized vector with user-provided type parameter, in an interface of the HDR image format decoder. They would then also call other code that could panic before initializing all instances. This could run Drop implementations on uninitialized types, equivalent to use-after-free, and allow an attacker arbitrary code execution. Two different fixes were applied. It is possible to conserve the interface by ensuring proper initialization before calling Vec::set_len. Drop is no longer called in case of panic, though. Starting from version 0.22, a breaking change to the interface requires callers to pre-allocate the output buffer and pass a mutable slice instead, avoiding all unsafe code.

CVE-2019-16138 Affected Image Versions

1 component(s)
Fixed Versions:
0.21.3
Product / Package Ecosystem Affected Versions Fixed Version
image
 crates.io
≥ 0.10.2
< 0.21.3
0.21.3

References

NVD — CVE-2019-16138 NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2019-16138
Image Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/image-rs/image/pull/985
Image Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/image-rs/image
rustsec.org/advisories/rustsec-... WEB
https://rustsec.org/advisories/RUSTSEC-2019-0014.html

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2019-16138?
CVE-2019-16138 is a security vulnerability in Image involving Use after free in image under CWE-416: Use After Free.
Which Image versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to 0.21.3 across affected packages: image.
What version fixes CVE-2019-16138?
Upgrading to 0.21.3 (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
Is image affected?
Yes, image is affected in releases prior to 0.21.3. Upgrade your dependency to 0.21.3 or later.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2019-16138?
CVE-2019-16138 has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 9.8 (CRITICAL) with vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H.
What CWE is associated with CVE-2019-16138?
CVE-2019-16138 is classified under CWE-416: Use After Free (The product reuses or references memory after it has been freed. At some point afterward, the memory may be allocated again and saved in another pointer, while the original pointer references a location somewhere within the new allocation. Any operations using the original pointer are no longer valid because the memory "belongs" to the code that operates on the new pointer.).
How can I check crates.io dependencies for CVE-2019-16138?
Run the dependency tree command: 'inspect dependencies for image'. This command lists direct and transitive dependencies in your build configuration so you can verify if a vulnerable version is resolved.
Machine-readable OSV JSON OSV v1.5 Schema
Normalized schema output
View Raw JSON 
{
  "schema_version" : "1.4.0",
  "id" : "GHSA-m2pf-hprp-3vqm",
  "modified" : "2023-06-13T18:18:15Z",
  "published" : "2021-08-25T20:44:43Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2019-16138" ],
  "summary" : "Use after free in image",
  "details" : "Affected versions of this crate would call Vec::set_len on an uninitialized vector with user-provided type parameter, in an interface of the HDR image format decoder. They would then also call other code that could panic before initializing all instances.\n\nThis could run Drop implementations on uninitialized types, equivalent to use-after-free, and allow an attacker arbitrary code execution.\n\nTwo different fixes were applied. It is possible to conserve the interface by ensuring proper initialization before calling Vec::set_len. Drop is no longer called in case of panic, though.\n\nStarting from version 0.22, a breaking change to the interface requires callers to pre-allocate the output buffer and pass a mutable slice instead, avoiding all unsafe code.",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V3",
    "score" : "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H"
  } ],
  "affected" : [ {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "crates.io",
      "name" : "image"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0.10.2"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "0.21.3"
      } ]
    } ]
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2019-16138"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/image-rs/image/pull/985"
  }, {
    "type" : "PACKAGE",
    "url" : "https://github.com/image-rs/image"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://rustsec.org/advisories/RUSTSEC-2019-0014.html"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-416" ],
    "severity" : "CRITICAL",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2021-08-19T21:22:44Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : null
  }
}