Hi,

It looks like freeimage is dead upstream (last upstream release in 2018, upstream
maintainer email bounces[1]). With many open security issues[2], I believe freeimage
is not in a shape to be released in Debian, and should be removed.

This bug at RC severity should kick it out of testing for the time being, and if
nobody is willing to take over it and look at the security issues, it should
eventually be dropped from sid as well.

Cheers,
Emilio

[1] https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=1082375
[2] https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/source-package/freeimage

Sigh. I'm upstream for a project that uses libfreeimage. Does anybody
have any recommendations for a replacement? Preferably with a C (not
C++) API?

Thanks for keeping tabs on this.

Sigh. I'm upstream for a project that uses libfreeimage. Does anybody
have any recommendations for a replacement? Preferably with a C (not
C++) API?

Thanks for keeping tabs on this.

There are quite a few reverse dependencies, I guess those needs to be
tackled first.


$ ssh mirror.ftp-master.debian.org "dak rm -Rn freeimage"
Will remove the following packages from unstable:

 freeimage | 3.18.0+ds2-11 | source
libfreeimage-dev | 3.18.0+ds2-11 | amd64, arm64, armhf, i386, ppc64el,
riscv64, s390x
libfreeimage3 | 3.18.0+ds2-11 | amd64, arm64, armhf, i386, ppc64el,
riscv64, s390x
libfreeimageplus-dev | 3.18.0+ds2-11 | amd64, arm64, armhf, i386,
ppc64el, riscv64, s390x
libfreeimageplus-doc | 3.18.0+ds2-11 | all
libfreeimageplus3 | 3.18.0+ds2-11 | amd64, arm64, armhf, i386, ppc64el,
riscv64, s390x

Maintainer: Debian Science Maintainers
<debian-science-maintainers@lists.alioth.debian.org>
------------------- Reason -------------------

----------------------------------------------

Checking reverse dependencies...
# Broken Depends:
apriltag: apriltag
colmap: colmap [amd64 arm64 i386 ppc64el riscv64 s390x]
deepin-album: deepin-album
deepin-image-viewer: deepin-image-viewer
forge: libforge1t64
gl-image-display: libgl-image-display0
libkysdk-applications: libkysdk-applications
mrcal: libmrcal4
nvidia-cuda-samples/contrib: nvidia-cuda-samples
ogre-1.12: libogre1.12.10t64
ogre-1.9: libogre-1.9.0t64
opencascade: libocct-ivtk-dev
             libocct-visualization-7.8
             libocct-visualization-7.9
             libocct-visualization-dev
perceptualdiff: perceptualdiff
photoqt: photoqt [amd64 arm64 armhf ppc64el riscv64 s390x]
posterazor: posterazor
ruby-image-science: ruby-image-science

# Broken Build-Depends:
apriltag: libfreeimage-dev
colmap: libfreeimage-dev
deepin-album: libfreeimage-dev
deepin-image-viewer: libfreeimage-dev
dtkgui: libfreeimage-dev
forge: libfreeimage-dev
gl-image-display: libfreeimage-dev
imv: libfreeimage-dev
kew: libfreeimage-dev
libkysdk-applications: libfreeimage-dev
                       libfreeimageplus-dev
mrcal: libfreeimage-dev
ogre-1.12: libfreeimage-dev
ogre-1.9: libfreeimage-dev
opencascade: libfreeimage-dev
perceptualdiff: libfreeimage-dev
photoqt: libfreeimageplus-dev
posterazor: libfreeimage-dev
ruby-image-science: libfreeimage-dev
xtrkcad: libfreeimage-dev

Dependency problem found.
2018, upstream
believe freeimage
being, and if
should
https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/source-package/freeimage

Possibly switching to this fork might help down the road: https://github.com/agruzdev/FreeImageRe

/me got also several mails about future removals, noteable opencascade
which would drop a lot of software I'm caring about (e.g freecad,
slic3r-prusa etc.)

It looks like that there has been a fork of freeimage,
https://github.com/agruzdev/FreeImageRe that might be able to close the
gap a bit, there are recent commits and also a MR targeting a few of
the open CVEs.

(As science-team member, I offer to help to get the package updated.)

I am not a team member, just an observation:

Closest to being a maintainer inside the team would be Anton Gladky
(added to Cc) who hasn't touched the package for 3.5 years.

I'd guess the relevant question is now whether your "offer to help to
get the package updated" implies that you are willing to become the
maintainer of the package inside the team.

cu
Adrian

To ensure everyone is on the same page:
- ogre-1.12 1.12.10+dfsg2-8 no longer build-depends on libfreeimage-dev
- ogre-14 is making its way through NEW, without a build-dep on libfreeimage-dev

So OGRE is no longer reliant on FreeImage,
be it the unmaintained original or the active fork.

With this e-mail I am proposing a much shorter CC list that should focus
on people who still need a FreeImage replacement in the archive.
(you can omit me too, my interest about FreeImage was limited to OGRE)

Hello all,

I will try to have a look and maybe upload to experimental the proposed
fork.
Let us see how it works.

Best regards

Anton


Am Sa., 17. Jan. 2026 um 16:13 Uhr schrieb Antoine Le Gonidec <
vv221@debian.org>:

We believe that the bug you reported is fixed in the latest version of
opencascade, which is due to be installed in the Debian FTP archive.

A summary of the changes between this version and the previous one is
attached.

Thank you for reporting the bug, which will now be closed.  If you
have further comments please address them to 1121912@bugs.debian.org,
and the maintainer will reopen the bug report if appropriate.

Debian distribution maintenance software
pp.
Tobias Frost <tobi@debian.org> (supplier of updated opencascade package)

(This message was generated automatically at their request; if you
believe that there is a problem with it please contact the archive
administrators by mailing ftpmaster@ftp-master.debian.org)
Format: 1.8
Date: Sun, 01 Feb 2026 12:27:02 +0100
Source: opencascade
Architecture: source
Version: 7.9.2+dfsg-4
Distribution: unstable
Urgency: medium
Maintainer: Debian Science Maintainers <debian-science-maintainers@lists.alioth.debian.org>
Changed-By: Tobias Frost <tobi@debian.org>
Closes: 1121912
Changes:
 opencascade (7.9.2+dfsg-4) unstable; urgency=medium
 .
   * Build without freeimage. (Closes: #1121912)
Checksums-Sha1:
 a5409ccfabd39cc820547acd80f48192619a808d 3633 opencascade_7.9.2+dfsg-4.dsc
 63cf5fef72e721d774575be780be3f6b5422a0b2 36498344 opencascade_7.9.2+dfsg.orig.tar.xz
 627b5ef79f92a5a37697a0e7b4726bde1c35f798 67076 opencascade_7.9.2+dfsg-4.debian.tar.xz
 86e2506668ec500f474bfb49ad48325fb91ed82e 25924 opencascade_7.9.2+dfsg-4_source.buildinfo
Checksums-Sha256:
 48ad45cac616163d3e64a9bfd1cc490b74b34db2279160c7b798b7fb6028d3fe 3633 opencascade_7.9.2+dfsg-4.dsc
 f6e272b6aaa14743a611eb4b8d7affa98986cdcaa60f5a91ca7ac46b177b7181 36498344 opencascade_7.9.2+dfsg.orig.tar.xz
 bb2225b558c1dfdf0b8b29a09334f34c59cc116e871e1e65ff3402db41637393 67076 opencascade_7.9.2+dfsg-4.debian.tar.xz
 12fe5dae51f5d7d866686dddc59cebd677d13d2ff329811ac0450ad44c6433af 25924 opencascade_7.9.2+dfsg-4_source.buildinfo
Files:
 2c475b21f13e90478bc5b3bf8fd6054f 3633 science optional opencascade_7.9.2+dfsg-4.dsc
 eb95eb1d90d8e9ec64efa728c4991f26 36498344 science optional opencascade_7.9.2+dfsg.orig.tar.xz
 845b02625b7c391386f0ecc1c1bfc054 67076 science optional opencascade_7.9.2+dfsg-4.debian.tar.xz
 51177fdc2fdc1006ae1acc8eb1931697 25924 science optional opencascade_7.9.2+dfsg-4_source.buildinfo
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
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=gcAC
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

Hello,

Bug #1121912 in opencascade reported by you has been fixed in the
Git repository and is awaiting an upload. You can see the commit
message below and you can check the diff of the fix at:

https://salsa.debian.org/science-team/opencascade/-/commit/fdd9a50da7030cfe500bc7733482a73910a3dbc5

(this message was generated automatically)
-- 
Greetings

https://bugs.debian.org/1121912

Hello,

Bug #1121912 in opencascade reported by you has been fixed in the
Git repository and is awaiting an upload. You can see the commit
message below and you can check the diff of the fix at:

https://salsa.debian.org/science-team/opencascade/-/commit/f671ca3ee09f1b15c356a4c94ab5be7f7c196d36

(this message was generated automatically)
-- 
Greetings

https://bugs.debian.org/1121912

On 2026-01-17 Anton Gladky <gladk@debian.org> wrote:
[freeimage]

Hello Antony,

is there anything I can help you with?

cu Andreas