LibTIFF

Last updated
LibTIFF
Original author(s) Sam Leffler,
Silicon Graphics
Initial release1988;36 years ago (1988)
Stable release
4.6.0 [1]   OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg / 13 September 2023;5 months ago (13 September 2023)
Repository
Written in C
License BSD-like licence
Website libtiff.gitlab.io/libtiff/ OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg

LibTIFF is a library for reading and writing Tag Image File Format (abbreviated TIFF) files. The set also contains command line tools for processing TIFFs. It is distributed in source code and can be found as binary builds for all kinds of platforms. The LibTIFF software was originally written by Sam Leffler while working for Silicon Graphics.

Contents

Features

Support for BigTIFF, files larger than 4 GiB, was included for LibTIFF 4.0.

Tiff tools

As of version 4.6.0 several tools are no longer built by default, as they suffered from lack of maintenance. These tools are still available as source code. The only remaining tools supported are: tiffinfo, tiffdump, tiffcp, tiffset and tiffsplit.

Exploits

A TIFF file is composed of small descriptor blocks containing offsets into the file which point to a variety of data types. Incorrect offset values can cause programs to attempt to read erroneous portions of the file or attempt to read past the physical end of file. Improperly encoded packet or line lengths within the file can cause rendering programs which lack appropriate boundary checks to overflow their internal buffers.

Multiple buffer overflows have been found in LibTIFF. [2] [3] [4] Some of these have also been used to execute unsigned code on the PlayStation Portable, [5] as well as run third-party applications on the iPhone and iPod Touch firmware. [6]

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References

  1. "Release 4.6.0".
  2. libTIFF BitsPerSample Tag Buffer Overflow Vulnerability Release Date:2005-05-11 - Secunia Advisories
  3. Stack-based buffer overflow in libTIFF before 3.7.2 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via a TIFF file with a malformed BitsPerSample tag. - CVE - CVE-2005-1544 (under review) Assigned (20050514)
  4. libTIFF Multiple Vulnerabilities Release Date: 2006-08-02 - Secunia Advisories
  5. Sony PSP TIFF Image Viewing Code Execution Vulnerability Release Date: 2006-08-31 - Secunia Advisories
  6. Details of iPhone TIFF exploit posted MacNN & MNM Media, 2007/10/17 Archived version