drewnoakes/metadata-extractor

Deep recursion / stackoverflow with tiff image

Open

#559 opened on Dec 1, 2021

View on GitHub
 (5 comments) (1 reaction) (0 assignees)Java (2,411 stars) (470 forks)batch import
format-tiffhelp wantedimage-queue

Description

Hello.

Tiff image can be downloaded here: https://github.com/cgohlke/imagecodecs/blob/master/tests/tiff/gray.movie.u2.tif

Then try to extract metadata by using this code:

InputStream inputStream = new ByteArrayInputStream(imageBlob);

Metadata metadata = ImageMetadataReader.readMetadata(inputStream);

Directory mimeTypeDir = metadata.getFirstDirectoryOfType(FileTypeDirectory.class);

String mimeType = mimeTypeDir.getString(3);
String extension = mimeTypeDir.getString(4);

This should throw a java.lang.StackOverflowError

I also tried using a a tool like ExifTool and it threw a similar warning: Deep recursion on subroutine "Image::ExifTool::ProcessDirectory" Deep recursion on subroutine "Image::ExifTool::Exif::ProcessExif"

Let me know if you need more details.

Contributor guide

Tech stack
java
Domain
backend
Issue type
bug
DifficultyEstimated implementation difficulty for a new contributor, from 1 for very small changes to 5 for expert-level work.
3
Estimated timeA rough time range for an experienced contributor to investigate, implement, test, and prepare a pull request.
half day
Activity statusHow available the issue appears right now: fresh, active, stale, blocked, or waiting on maintainer input.
stale
ClarityHow clearly the issue explains the expected change, acceptance criteria, and next step.
clear
Prerequisites
None
Newbie friendlinessA 1-100 score estimating how approachable this issue is for first-time contributors.
45
Research direction
Investigate the TIFF metadata reading code in the metadata extractor library to identify where deep recursion occurs. The issue provides a sample TIFF image that triggers a StackOverflowError. Look for recursive calls in TIFF related processing classes and consider adding a depth limit or iterative approach. Also examine how ExifTool handles similar deep recursion warnings.