CVE-2011-2895
CWE-119Published: August 19, 2011· Updated: Jun 16, 2026
Official Description
The LZW decompressor in (1) the BufCompressedFill function in fontfile/decompress.c in X.Org libXfont before 1.4.4 and (2) compress/compress.c in 4.3BSD, as used in zopen.c in OpenBSD before 3.8, FreeBSD, NetBSD 4.0.x and 5.0.x before 5.0.3 and 5.1.x before 5.1.1, FreeType 2.1.9, and other products, does not properly handle code words that are absent from the decompression table when encountered, which allows context-dependent attackers to trigger an infinite loop or a heap-based buffer overflow, and possibly execute arbitrary code, via a crafted compressed stream, a related issue to CVE-2006-1168 and CVE-2011-2896.
Technical Analysis
CVE-2011-2895 can be exploited remotely over the network without requiring physical or adjacent access, significantly expanding the attack surface for threat actors.
Exploitation requires some privileges, which limits the exposure to scenarios where an attacker has already gained initial access.
From a weakness classification perspective (CWE-119): Buffer overflow vulnerabilities can lead to arbitrary code execution or denial of service by corrupting adjacent memory.
CVSS v3.1 Vector Breakdown
Affected Vendors & Products
Exploit & PoC Resources
Official Patches & Advisories
All References (76)
Quick Facts
Related CVEs (CWE-119)
Recommended Actions
- →Apply vendor patches immediately
- →Monitor CVE-2011-2895 in threat intel feeds
- →Review IDS/IPS signatures for exploitation attempts