VulnerabilityPublished 5 May 2024Updated 3 Nov 2025

CVE-2024-34508: dcmtk · NULL Pointer Dereference

Affects dcmtkSource CVE Database V5

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 4.3 Medium : upgrade to 3.6.9 when convenient.

Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 12:54 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

4.3Medium

How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.

EPSS: 0.6% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 52% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.
Patch: Available – fixed in 3.6.9

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L

Attack Vector: Network
Attack Complexity: Low
Privileges Required: Low
User Interaction: None
Scope: Unchanged
Confidentiality: None
Integrity: None
Availability: Low

Bold values are the worst case: easiest to exploit or largest impact.

Attack Vector: Network: The vulnerable component is bound to the network stack and the set of possible attackers extends beyond the other options listed, up to and including the entire Internet. Such a vulnerability is often termed 'remotely exploitable' and can be thought of as an attack being exploitable at the protocol level one or more network hops away (e.g., across one or more routers).
Attack Complexity: Low: Specialized access conditions or extenuating circumstances do not exist. An attacker can expect repeatable success against the vulnerable component.
Privileges Required: Low: The attacker is authorized with (i.e., requires) privileges that provide basic user capabilities that could normally affect only settings and files owned by a user. Alternatively, an attacker with Low privileges may have the ability to cause an impact only to non-sensitive resources.
User Interaction: None: The vulnerable system can be exploited without any interaction from any user.
Scope: Unchanged: An exploited vulnerability can only affect resources managed by the same security authority. In this case, the vulnerable component and the impacted component are either the same, or both are managed by the same security authority.
Confidentiality: None: There is no loss of confidentiality within the impacted component.
Integrity: None: There is no loss of integrity within the impacted component.
Availability: Low: Performance is reduced or there are interruptions in resource availability. Even if repeated exploitation of the vulnerability is possible, the attacker does not have the ability to completely deny service to legitimate users. The resources in the impacted component are either partially available all of the time, or fully available only some of the time, but overall there is no direct, serious consequence to the impacted component.

Definitions: FIRST CVSS v3.1 specification.

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 5 May 2024
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponised: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: no evidence on record.
Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by Mirage: no evidence on record.
No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors

A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 26 Oct 2026.

Disclosed: The CVE record is public on cve.org. Its publication is t = 0.
Detectable: A public nuclei template can find exposed instances, for defenders and attackers alike.
Weaponised: Public exploit code exists in Metasploit or Exploit-DB, or CISA SSVC or the CVSS exploit maturity reports a public proof of concept.
Exploited in the wild: CISA KEV lists it, CISA SSVC rates exploitation active, or a source reports attacks.
Observed by OffSeq Mirage: OffSeq Mirage honeypot sensors recorded attack traffic for this CVE, or found exposed hosts without attack traffic.

Moments are spaced evenly, not to scale; a dashed line marks a gap of six months or more. Deltas count from t = 0. Sources that give only a date (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, or a time of exactly 00:00Z) read “same day” rather than hours. Metasploit modules carry the flaw’s disclosure date, not their release date, and nuclei templates carry no date, so both appear above but not on the timeline.

What to do

Upgrade dcmtk/dcmtk to 3.6.9.

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
GitHubdcmtk/dcmtk`pkg:github/dcmtk/dcmtk`Other threats	Affected <3.6.9	Fixed in 3.6.9

Check your own hosts for these packages with threat-finder (opens in a new tab), our free open-source scanner.

AI-suggested

Upgrade DCMTK to version 3.6.9 or later as soon as it becomes available, as this version is expected to contain the fix for the segmentation fault vulnerability.
Implement network-level filtering and intrusion detection systems to monitor and block malformed or suspicious DIMSE messages targeting DICOM services.
Restrict network access to DICOM services to trusted hosts and authenticated users only, minimizing exposure to untrusted networks.
Employ application-layer firewalls or DICOM-aware proxies that validate DIMSE message integrity before forwarding to backend systems.
Conduct regular security assessments and fuzz testing of DICOM communication channels to identify and remediate similar vulnerabilities proactively.
Maintain up-to-date backups and incident response plans to quickly recover from potential service disruptions.
Collaborate with medical device vendors and IT teams to ensure timely patch management and vulnerability disclosure handling.

Description

dcmnet in DCMTK before 3.6.9 has a segmentation fault via an invalid DIMSE message.

Impact

For European organizations, particularly healthcare providers and medical imaging centers, this vulnerability poses a risk of service disruption in critical medical imaging systems that rely on DCMTK for DICOM communications. A segmentation fault triggered by malformed DIMSE messages can cause system crashes or application downtime, potentially delaying diagnostic processes and impacting patient treatment timelines. Although the vulnerability does not expose patient data or allow unauthorized data modification, the availability impact can degrade operational efficiency and trust in medical IT infrastructure. Given the increasing digitization of healthcare in Europe and strict regulatory requirements for medical device reliability, even medium-severity DoS vulnerabilities warrant prompt attention. Additionally, denial of service in medical imaging systems could indirectly affect emergency response and clinical decision-making. Organizations with interconnected hospital networks or remote imaging services are more exposed to remote exploitation attempts.

CWE-476NULL Pointer Dereference (opens in a new tab)
Base weaknessLikelihood of exploit: MediumCWE Top 25 (2025): #13OWASP Top 10 A10:2025: Mishandling of Exceptional Conditions (opens in a new tab)
The product dereferences a pointer that it expects to be valid but is NULL.
Implementation
For any pointers that could have been modified or provided from a function that can return NULL, check the pointer for NULL before use. When working with a multithreaded or otherwise asynchronous environment, ensure that proper locking APIs are used to lock before the check, and unlock when it has finished.
Requirements
Select a programming language that is not susceptible to these issues.
Implementation
Check the results of all functions that return a value and verify that the value is non-null before acting upon it.
OWASP Cheat Sheets
Logging (opens in a new tab)
Error Handling (opens in a new tab)
OWASP ASVS 4.0.3
V11.1.7 (opens in a new tab)
From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).

References

Community reviews

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 3 Nov 2025, 22:15 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-476

Technical details

References

Community reviews

Related threats