Vulnerability-Lookup

GHSA-9F2R-228G-M882

Vulnerability from github – Published: 2022-05-24 16:45 – Updated: 2025-07-24 18:33

Details

An issue was discovered in the DICOM Part 10 File Format in the NEMA DICOM Standard 1995 through 2019b. The preamble of a DICOM file that complies with this specification can contain the header for an executable file, such as Portable Executable (PE) malware. This space is left unspecified so that dual-purpose files can be created. (For example, dual-purpose TIFF/DICOM files are used in digital whole slide imaging for applications in medicine.) To exploit this vulnerability, someone must execute a maliciously crafted file that is encoded in the DICOM Part 10 File Format. PE/DICOM files are executable even with the .dcm file extension. Anti-malware configurations at healthcare facilities often ignore medical imagery. Also, anti-malware tools and business processes could violate regulatory frameworks (such as HIPAA) when processing suspicious DICOM files.

Severity

7.8 (High)


                  
                    CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

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{
  "affected": [],
  "aliases": [
    "CVE-2019-11687"
  ],
  "database_specific": {
    "cwe_ids": [
      "CWE-20"
    ],
    "github_reviewed": false,
    "github_reviewed_at": null,
    "nvd_published_at": "2019-05-02T22:29:00Z",
    "severity": "HIGH"
  },
  "details": "An issue was discovered in the DICOM Part 10 File Format in the NEMA DICOM Standard 1995 through 2019b. The preamble of a DICOM file that complies with this specification can contain the header for an executable file, such as Portable Executable (PE) malware. This space is left unspecified so that dual-purpose files can be created. (For example, dual-purpose TIFF/DICOM files are used in digital whole slide imaging for applications in medicine.) To exploit this vulnerability, someone must execute a maliciously crafted file that is encoded in the DICOM Part 10 File Format. PE/DICOM files are executable even with the .dcm file extension. Anti-malware configurations at healthcare facilities often ignore medical imagery. Also, anti-malware tools and business processes could violate regulatory frameworks (such as HIPAA) when processing suspicious DICOM files.",
  "id": "GHSA-9f2r-228g-m882",
  "modified": "2025-07-24T18:33:16Z",
  "published": "2022-05-24T16:45:05Z",
  "references": [
    {
      "type": "ADVISORY",
      "url": "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2019-11687"
    },
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://github.com/d00rt/pedicom"
    },
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://github.com/d00rt/pedicom/blob/master/doc/Attacking_Digital_Imaging_and_Communication_in_Medicine_%28DICOM%29_file_format_standard_-_Markel_Picado_Ortiz_%28d00rt%29.pdf"
    },
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://github.com/d00rt/pedicom/blob/master/doc/Attacking_Digital_Imaging_and_Communication_in_Medicine_(DICOM)_file_format_standard_-_Markel_Picado_Ortiz_(d00rt).pdf"
    },
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://labs.cylera.com/2019.04.16/pe-dicom-medical-malware"
    },
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://www.praetorian.com/blog/elfdicom-poc-malware-polyglot-exploiting-linux-based-medical-devices"
    },
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/108730"
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  "schema_version": "1.4.0",
  "severity": [
    {
      "score": "CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H",
      "type": "CVSS_V3"
    }
  ]
}

CVE-2019-11687 (GCVE-0-2019-11687)

Vulnerability from cvelistv5 – Published: 2019-05-02 21:07 – Updated: 2026-06-02 18:24

Summary

An issue was discovered in the DICOM Part 10 File Format in the NEMA DICOM Standard 1995 through 2019b and continuing in current implementations. The 128-byte preamble of a DICOM file that complies with this specification can contain arbitrary executable headers for multiple operating systems, including Portable Executable (PE) files for Windows and Executable and Linkable Format (ELF) files for Linux-based systems. This space is left unspecified so that dual-purpose files can be created. For example, dual-purpose TIFF/DICOM files are used in digital whole slide imaging applications in medicine. This design flaw enables system-wide compromise as malicious DICOM files are routinely shared between medical devices and hospital systems and transported via removable media for patient care coordination. To exploit this vulnerability, someone must execute the maliciously crafted file. These files can be executable even with the .dcm file extension. Anti-malware configurations at healthcare facilities often ignore medical imagery. DICOM files exist on systems that process protected health information, and successful exploitation could result in violations of regulatory compliance requirements such as HIPAA and FDA postmarket obligations.

Severity

7.8 (High)


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

SSVC

Exploitation: none Automatable: no Technical Impact: total

CISA Coordinator · CISA-ADP (v2.0.3)

Decision recorded 2026-06-02 18:24 UTC

CWE

n/a
CWE-20 - Improper Input Validation

Assigner

mitre mitre root

References

5 references

URL	Tags
https://labs.cylera.com/2019.04.16/pe-dicom-medic…
https://github.com/d00rt/pedicom/blob/master/doc/…
https://github.com/d00rt/pedicom
http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/108730	vdb-entry
https://www.praetorian.com/blog/elfdicom-poc-malw…

Show details on NVD website

JSON

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Sightings

Author	Source	Type	Date	Other

Nomenclature

Seen: The vulnerability was mentioned, discussed, or observed by the user.
Confirmed: The vulnerability has been validated from an analyst's perspective.
Published Proof of Concept: A public proof of concept is available for this vulnerability.
Exploited: The vulnerability was observed as exploited by the user who reported the sighting.
Patched: The vulnerability was observed as successfully patched by the user who reported the sighting.
Not exploited: The vulnerability was not observed as exploited by the user who reported the sighting.
Not confirmed: The user expressed doubt about the validity of the vulnerability.
Not patched: The vulnerability was not observed as successfully patched by the user who reported the sighting.

Detection rules are retrieved from Rulezet.

The MITRE ATT&CK techniques below are AI-generated suggestions, inferred from the description of the vulnerability by the CIRCL/vulnerability-attack-technique-classification-roberta-base model, served locally by ML-Gateway. They have not been verified by an analyst and are provided for guidance only.
The approach is described in our paper Mapping CVEs to MITRE ATT&CK Techniques: A Curated Gold-Set Classifier and the Limits of LLM-Assisted Label Expansion.
Browse all ATT&CK techniques and the vulnerabilities related to each.

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GHSA-9F2R-228G-M882

CVE-2019-11687 (GCVE-0-2019-11687)

Tags

Sightings

Nomenclature

Related by attack behaviour