Description
FreeType before 2.4.9, as used in Mozilla Firefox Mobile before 10.0.4 and other products, allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (invalid heap write operation and memory corruption) or possibly execute arbitrary code via crafted glyph or bitmap data in a BDF font that lacks an ENCODING field.
Fixed in Linux distributions
Distributions backport fixes, so the version that fixes this vulnerability differs per release — upgrade to at least the version shown. From the distributions' security trackers and advisories.
Debian
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Debian 14 | freetype | 2.4.9-1 | — |
| Debian 13 | freetype | 2.4.9-1 | — |
| Debian 12 | freetype | 2.4.9-1 | — |
| Debian 6.0 | freetype | 2.4.2-2.1+squeeze4 | DSA-2428-1 |
Red Hat
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| RHEL 6 | freetype +2 | 2.3.11-6.el6_2.9 | RHSA-2012:0467 |
| RHEL 5 | freetype +2 | 2.2.1-31.el5_8.1 | RHSA-2012:0467 |
openSUSE
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| openSUSE Tumbleweed | freetype2 | 2.7-1.1 | openSUSE-SU-2024:10438-1 |
Advisories 3
- RHSA-2012:0467 Red Hat Security Advisory: freetype security update Red Hat Security Advisories (RHSA) · Jun 28, 2026
- DSA-2428-1 freetype - several Debian Security (DSA / DLA) · Mar 9, 2026
- openSUSE-SU-2024:10438-1 freetype2-devel-2.7-1.1 on GA media SUSE / openSUSE Security Updates · Feb 4, 2026
References
- 48797 third-party-advisory
- 48300 third-party-advisory
- 48508 third-party-advisory
- 48822 third-party-advisory
- MDVSA-2012:057 vendor-advisory
- APPLE-SA-2012-09-19-1 vendor-advisory
- 48758 third-party-advisory
- http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5503
- 52318 vdb-entry
- USN-1403-1 vendor-advisory
- https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=733512
- 48918 third-party-advisory
- [oss-security] 20120306 Re: CVE Request -- FreeType: Multiple security flaws to be fixed in v2.4.9 mailing-list
- SUSE-SU-2012:0484 vendor-advisory
- SUSE-SU-2012:0521 vendor-advisory
- 48973 third-party-advisory
- http://www.mozilla.org/security/announce/2012/mfsa2012-21.html
- RHSA-2012:0467 vendor-advisory
- https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=800594
- SUSE-SU-2012:0483 vendor-advisory
- 1026765 vdb-entry
- openSUSE-SU-2012:0489 vendor-advisory
- 48951 third-party-advisory
- GLSA-201204-04 vendor-advisory
- DSA-2428 vendor-advisory