CVE-2019-6978

The GD Graphics Library (aka LibGD) 2.2.5 has a double free in the gdImage*Ptr() functions in gd_gif_out.c, gd_jpeg.c, and gd_wbmp.c. NOTE: PHP is unaffected.

Published: 2019-01-28 Last update: 2026-06-16 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2019-6978 is rated High Risk (72.2/100): CVSS Critical severity, with high exploitation likelihood (EPSS 4.42%, 90th percentile). EPSS ranks this CVE among the most likely to be exploited in the near term. EPSS rose +1.47% over the last day, indicating growing attacker interest. High exploitation likelihood—assess exposure and prioritize 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-2019-6978

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 2.94% 4.42% +1.47%
2 2026-05-14 3.44% 2.94% -0.50%
3 2026-04-19 — 3.44% —

Full EPSS history (34 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2019-6978

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
9.8 3.0 CRITICAL
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/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:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
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.
 3.9 5.9 [email protected]
7.5 2.0 HIGH
AV:N/AC:L/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:L)
Exploitation conditions are straightforward and predictable.
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.
 10.0 6.4 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2019-6978

OS Trackers for CVE-2019-6978

vendor priority summary link
alpine critical CVE-2019-6978: 1 source package rows (gd); 10 state rows across 10 repos (3.10-main, 3.11-main, 3.12-main, 3.17-main, 3.18-main, 3.19-main, 3.20-main, 3.21-main, 3.22-main, edge-main); fixed 10, open 0. https://security.alpinelinux.org/vuln/CVE-2019-6978
debian not yet assigned CVE-2019-6978 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 1 source packages (libgd2), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 5. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2019-6978
gentoo normal CVE-2019-6978: 1 GLSA(s) (201903-18), 1 atom(s) (media-libs/gd); latest impact normal. https://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?quicksearch=CVE-2019-6978
redhat low — https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2019-6978
suse medium — https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2019-6978/
ubuntu low CVE-2019-6978 low priority: Ubuntu including 5 source packages (libgd2, php5, php7.0, php7.2, php7.3), 50 status rows across 10 suites (bionic, cosmic, disco, eoan, focal, groovy, hirsute, trusty, upstream, xenial): DNE 30, not-affected 11, needs-triage 5, released 4. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2019-6978

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2019-6978

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
libgd libgd 2.2.5 cpe:2.3:a:libgd:libgd:2.2.5:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
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:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
canonical ubuntu_linux 14.04 cpe:2.3:o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:14.04:*:*:*:lts:*:*:*
canonical ubuntu_linux 16.04 cpe:2.3:o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:16.04:*:*:*:lts:*:*:*
canonical ubuntu_linux 18.04 cpe:2.3:o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:18.04:*:*:*:lts:*:*:*
canonical ubuntu_linux 18.10 cpe:2.3:o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:18.10:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2019-6978

URL Tags
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2019-04/msg00025.html
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2019-04/msg00031.html
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2019:2722
https://github.com/libgd/libgd/commit/553702980ae89c83f2d6e254d62cf82e204956d0 Patch Third Party Advisory
https://github.com/libgd/libgd/issues/492 Patch Third Party Advisory
https://github.com/php/php-src/commit/089f7c0bc28d399b0420aa6ef058e4c1c120b2ae Patch Third Party Advisory
https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2019/01/msg00028.html Mailing List Third Party Advisory
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/3CZ2QADQTKRHTGB2AHD7J4QQNDLBEMM6/
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/3WRUPZVT2MWFUEMVGTRAGDOBHLNMGK5R/
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/TEYUUOW75YD3DENIPYMO263E6NL2NFHI/
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/TTXSLRZI5BCQT3H5KALG3DHUWUMNPDX2/
https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/201903-18 Third Party Advisory
https://usn.ubuntu.com/3900-1/ Third Party Advisory
https://www.debian.org/security/2019/dsa-4384 Third Party Advisory
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