CVE-2018-16132

The image rendering component (createGenericPreview) of the Open Whisper Signal app through 2.29.0 for iOS fails to check for unreasonably large images before manipulating received images. This allows for a large image sent to a user to exhaust all available memory when the image is displayed, resulting in a forced restart of the device.

Published: 2018-08-29 Last update: 2024-11-21 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]

Conclusion & alert: CVE-2018-16132 is rated Moderate Risk (52.4/100): CVSS High severity, with medium exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.30%). 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-2018-16132

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 2025-03-17 0.10% 0.30% +0.19%
2 2023-03-07 0.89% 0.10% -0.78%
3 2022-02-04 0.89%

Full EPSS history (4 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2018-16132

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
8.6 3.0 HIGH
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:N/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:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:C)
Breaking this can reach past the original component and bite other resources—bigger blast radius.
Confidentiality (C:N)
Doesn’t really leak secrets in a meaningful 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.
3.9 4.0 [email protected]
7.8 2.0 HIGH
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:C Click to expand
Access vector (AV:N)
Can be exploited remotely over network reachability.
Access complexity (AC:L)
Exploitation conditions are straightforward and predictable.
Authentication (AU:N)
No authentication is required.
Confidentiality impact (C:N)
No confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:N)
No integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:C)
Complete availability impact.
10.0 6.9 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2018-16132

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2018-16132

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
signal signal <= 2.29.0 cpe:2.3:a:signal:signal:*:*:*:*:*:iphone_os:*:*

References for CVE-2018-16132

URL Tags
http://seclists.org/bugtraq/2018/Aug/57 Mailing List Third Party Advisory
cvelogic Threat Intelligence