The bm_readbody_bmp function in bitmap_io.c in potrace before 1.13 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (NULL pointer dereference and crash) via a crafted BMP image, a different vulnerability than CVE-2016-8695 and CVE-2016-8696.
Conclusion & alert: CVE-2016-8694 is rated Low Risk (39.1/100): CVSS Medium severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.28%). Mandatory action: Monitor for updates and reassess as exploit intelligence or EPSS changes.
Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.
EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).
| # | Date | Old EPSS score | New EPSS score | Delta (New - Old) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2025-03-30 | 0.23% | 0.28% | +0.05% |
| 2 | 2025-03-29 | 0.33% | 0.23% | -0.09% |
| 3 | 2025-03-17 | — | 0.33% | — |
Full EPSS history (6 records total)
CVSS metrics for this CVE.
| Base score | Version | Severity | Vector | Exploitability | Impact | Score source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5.5 | 3.0 | MEDIUM |
|
1.8 | 3.6 | [email protected] |
| 4.3 | 2.0 | MEDIUM |
|
8.6 | 2.9 | [email protected] |
| vendor | priority | summary | link |
|---|---|---|---|
debian
|
not yet assigned | CVE-2016-8694 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 1 source packages (potrace), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 5. | https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2016-8694 |
ubuntu
|
low | CVE-2016-8694 low priority: Ubuntu including 2 source packages (inkscape, potrace), 20 status rows across 10 suites (artful, bionic, cosmic, disco, precise, trusty, upstream, xenial, yakkety, zesty): not-affected 12, ignored 4, DNE 2, needs-triage 1, released 1. | https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2016-8694 |
| Vendor | Product | Version | Raw CPE |
|---|---|---|---|
| potrace_project | potrace | <= 1.12 | cpe:2.3:a:potrace_project:potrace:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* |
| URL | Tags |
|---|---|
| http://potrace.sourceforge.net/ChangeLog | Release Notes Third Party Advisory |
| http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2016/08/18/11 | Mailing List Third Party Advisory |
| http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2016/10/16/12 | Mailing List Third Party Advisory |
| http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/93778 | Third Party Advisory VDB Entry |
| https://blogs.gentoo.org/ago/2016/08/08/potrace-multiple-three-null-pointer-dereference-in-bm_readbody_bmp-bitmap_io-c/ | Third Party Advisory |