CVE-2017-16899

An array index error in the fig2dev program in Xfig 3.2.6a allows remote attackers to cause a denial-of-service attack or information disclosure with a maliciously crafted Fig format file, related to a negative font value in dev/gentikz.c, and the read_textobject functions in read.c and read1_3.c.

Published: 2017-11-20 Last update: 2026-05-13 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2017-16899 is rated Moderate Risk (53.1/100): CVSS High severity, with medium exploitation likelihood (EPSS 1.35%). 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-2017-16899

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 0.41% 1.35% +0.94%
2 2025-06-19 0.11% 0.41% +0.30%
3 2025-03-30 — 0.11% —

Full EPSS history (11 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2017-16899

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
7.1 3.0 HIGH
CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:L)
They already need access on the box, or another person has to do something wrong; it’s not a remote drive-by.
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:N)
Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
 1.8 5.2 [email protected]
5.8 2.0 MEDIUM
AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:P/I:N/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:N)
No integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:P)
Partial availability impact.
 8.6 4.9 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2017-16899

OS Trackers for CVE-2017-16899

vendor priority summary link
debian not yet assigned CVE-2017-16899 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 1 source packages (fig2dev), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 5. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2017-16899
redhat low — https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2017-16899
suse medium CVE-2017-16899 severity moderate: SUSE including 9 source package names (transfig, transfig-3.2.5-160.3.2, …), 26 product×package rows across 25 product lines (SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 12 SP2, SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 12 SP3, … (25 product lines)): Fixed 22, Known Not Affected 4. https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2017-16899/
ubuntu low CVE-2017-16899 low priority: Ubuntu including 2 source packages (fig2dev, transfig), 14 status rows across 7 suites (artful, bionic, cosmic, trusty, upstream, xenial, zesty): DNE 7, not-affected 3, ignored 2, needs-triage 1, released 1. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2017-16899

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2017-16899

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
xfig_project xfig 3.2.6a cpe:2.3:a:xfig_project:xfig:3.2.6a:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
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-2017-16899

URL Tags
https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=881143 Issue Tracking Third Party Advisory
cvelogic Threat Intelligence