CVE-2017-14448

An exploitable code execution vulnerability exists in the XCF image rendering functionality of SDL2_image-2.0.2. A specially crafted XCF image can cause a heap overflow resulting in code execution. An attacker can display a specially crafted image to trigger this vulnerability.

Published: 2018-04-24 Last update: 2024-11-21 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]

Conclusion & alert: CVE-2017-14448 is rated Moderate Risk (64.7/100): CVSS High severity, with medium exploitation likelihood (EPSS 2.40%). Mandatory action: Review affected assets and schedule remediation.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2017-14448

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 2026-06-15 1.55% 2.40% +0.85%
2 2026-03-09 1.67% 1.55% -0.12%
3 2025-12-17 1.67%

Full EPSS history (18 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2017-14448

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
8.8 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:N)
No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough.
User interaction (UI:R)
A real person has to do something—click, install, enable—otherwise it doesn’t land.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
2.8 5.9 [email protected]
8.8 3.0 HIGH
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:N)
No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough.
User interaction (UI:R)
A real person has to do something—click, install, enable—otherwise it doesn’t land.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
2.8 5.9 [email protected]
6.8 2.0 MEDIUM
AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P Click to expand
Access vector (AV:N)
Can be exploited remotely over network reachability.
Access complexity (AC:M)
Exploitation needs some favorable conditions, but not exceptional ones.
Authentication (AU:N)
No authentication is required.
Confidentiality impact (C:P)
Partial confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:P)
Partial integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:P)
Partial availability impact.
8.6 6.4 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2017-14448

OS Trackers for CVE-2017-14448

vendor priority summary link
alpine CVE-2017-14448: 1 source package rows (sdl2_image); 9 state rows across 9 repos (3.10-main, 3.11-main, 3.17-community, 3.18-community, 3.19-community, 3.20-community, 3.21-community, 3.22-community, edge-community); fixed 9, open 0. https://security.alpinelinux.org/vuln/CVE-2017-14448
debian not yet assigned CVE-2017-14448 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 2 source packages (libsdl2-image, sdl-image1.2), 10 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 10. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2017-14448
gentoo normal CVE-2017-14448: 1 GLSA(s) (201903-17), 1 atom(s) (media-libs/sdl2-image); latest impact normal. https://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?quicksearch=CVE-2017-14448
suse medium CVE-2017-14448 severity moderate: SUSE including 7 source package names (SDL_image-1.2.6-84.42.1, SDL_image-devel-1.2.6-84.42.1, …), 7 product×package rows across 3 product lines (SUSE Linux Enterprise Software Development Kit 11 SP4, openSUSE Leap 15.2, openSUSE Tumbleweed): Fixed 7. https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2017-14448/
ubuntu medium CVE-2017-14448 medium priority: Ubuntu including 2 source packages (libsdl2-image, sdl-image1.2), 10 status rows across 5 suites (artful, bionic, trusty, upstream, xenial): released 6, ignored 2, not-affected 2. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2017-14448

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2017-14448

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
libsdl sdl_image 2.0.2 cpe:2.3:a:libsdl:sdl_image:2.0.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
debian debian_linux 8.0 cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:8.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
debian debian_linux 9.0 cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:9.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2017-14448

cvelogic Threat Intelligence