CVE-2017-16794 — The png_load function in lib/png

The png_load function in lib/png.c in SWFTools 0.9.2 does not properly validate a multiplication of width and bits-per-pixel values, which allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (heap-based buffer over-read and application crash) via a crafted file, as demonstrated

01What is this vulnerability?

The png_load function in lib/png.c in SWFTools 0.9.2 does not properly validate a multiplication of width and bits-per-pixel values, which allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (heap-based buffer over-read and application crash) via a crafted file, as demonstrated by an erroneous png_load call that occurs because of incorrect integer data types in png2swf.

02Affected products

No structured affected-product list available — see references below for vendor advisories.

03Active exploitation status

Not currently listed on the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog. EPSS is the best forward-looking signal — see the EPSS row above.

04Recommended remediation

• Patch to a fixed version listed in the vendor advisory (see references below).
• Mitigate with WAF rules, network egress filters, or feature flags where the patch is not yet available.
• Hunt historical logs for exploitation indicators — see Detection signatures below.

05Technical details

For the full vendor write-up, exploit chains, and reference implementations, see the references list in section 09.

06Detection signatures

Ask SARA in chat to draft a starting detection for this CVE in your stack of choice.

07Related CVEs

No directly-cited follow-up CVEs in the KB record for this advisory. The references list in section 09 carries the vendor cross-references.

08Timeline

• Published: 2017-11-12T05:29:00.247
• Last modified: 2026-05-13T00:24:29.033

09References

• github.com — https://github.com/matthiaskramm/swftools/issues/50
• github.com — https://github.com/matthiaskramm/swftools/issues/50