Ollama Multi-Modal Model Image Processing NULL Pointer Dereference

Vulnerability Description

Ollama 0.11.5-rc0 through current version 0.13.5 contain a null pointer dereference vulnerability in the multi-modal model image processing functionality. When processing base64-encoded image data via the /api/chat endpoint, the application fails to validate that the decoded data represents valid media before passing it to the mtmd_helper_bitmap_init_from_buf function. This function can return NULL for malformed input, but the code does not check this return value before dereferencing the pointer in subsequent operations. A remote attacker can exploit this by sending specially crafted base64 image data that decodes to invalid media, causing a segmentation fault and crashing the runner process. This results in a denial of service condition where the model becomes unavailable to all users until the service is restarted.

References

• https://huntr.com/bounties/172df98b-07cd-41ea-a628-366f8cd525c0
• https://ollama.com/
• https://https://github.com/ollama/ollama
• https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/ollama-multi-modal-image-processing-null-pointer-dereference