Uncontrolled resource consumption in Apache PDFBox
Priority LOW 31CWE-400Published · Updated
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Local
- Privileges required
- None
- User interaction
- Required
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Impact type
- Denial of service
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- None · None · High
- Fix status
- Partial Red Hat: 1 fixed, 6 without a fix
Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · NVD. Fix status from CNA, GitHub and Red Hat. Impact type from CWE-400.
Summary
In Apache PDFBox 1.8.0 to 1.8.15 and 2.0.0RC1 to 2.0.11, a carefully crafted PDF file can trigger an extremely long running computation when parsing the page tree.
Why it matters now
EPSS 0.03505 89th percentileScored 2026-11-07
Fix Partial org.apache.pdfbox:pdfbox (Maven): 1.8.16, 2.0.12Red Hat: 1 advisoryRed Hat: 1 fixed, 6 without a fix
SSVC decision points
Not available: CISA has not published SSVC decision points for this record.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apache | Apache PDFBox | 1.8.0 to 1.8.15; 2.0.0RC1 to 2.0.11 | — | No fix listed | CNA |
| — | org.apache.pdfbox:pdfbox (Maven) | 1.8.0 to before 1.8.16 | 1.8.16 | Patch available | GHSA-gx96-vgf7-hwfg |
| — | org.apache.pdfbox:pdfbox (Maven) | 2.0.0 to before 2.0.12 | 2.0.12 | Patch available | GHSA-gx96-vgf7-hwfg |
- Apache PDFBox VendorApache Affected 1.8.0 to 1.8.15; 2.0.0RC1 to 2.0.11 Fixed in — No fix listed CNA
- org.apache.pdfbox:pdfbox (Maven) Vendor— Affected 1.8.0 to before 1.8.16 Fixed in 1.8.16 Patch available GHSA-gx96-vgf7-hwfg
- org.apache.pdfbox:pdfbox (Maven) Vendor— Affected 2.0.0 to before 2.0.12 Fixed in 2.0.12 Patch available GHSA-gx96-vgf7-hwfg
CPE configurations NVD · 8
| CPE | Versions | Role | Vendor |
|---|---|---|---|
| cpe:2.3:a:apache:pdfbox:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | 1.8.0 – 1.8.15; 2.0.1 – 2.0.11 | Vulnerable | Apache |
| cpe:2.3:a:apache:pdfbox:2.0:rc1:*:*:*:*:*:* | 2.0 rc1 | Vulnerable | Apache |
| cpe:2.3:a:apache:pdfbox:2.0:rc2:*:*:*:*:*:* | 2.0 rc2 | Vulnerable | Apache |
| cpe:2.3:a:apache:pdfbox:2.0:rc3:*:*:*:*:*:* | 2.0 rc3 | Vulnerable | Apache |
| cpe:2.3:a:apache:pdfbox:2.0.0:-:*:*:*:*:*:* | 2.0.0 | Vulnerable | Apache |
| cpe:2.3:o:fedoraproject:fedora:29:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | 29 | Vulnerable | Fedoraproject |
| cpe:2.3:o:fedoraproject:fedora:30:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | 30 | Vulnerable | Fedoraproject |
| cpe:2.3:a:oracle:retail_xstore_point_of_service:17.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | 17.0 | Vulnerable | Oracle |
- cpe:2.3:a:apache:pdfbox:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 1.8.0 – 1.8.15; 2.0.1 – 2.0.11 Vulnerable ·Apache
- cpe:2.3:a:apache:pdfbox:2.0:rc1:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 2.0 rc1 Vulnerable ·Apache
- cpe:2.3:a:apache:pdfbox:2.0:rc2:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 2.0 rc2 Vulnerable ·Apache
- cpe:2.3:a:apache:pdfbox:2.0:rc3:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 2.0 rc3 Vulnerable ·Apache
- cpe:2.3:a:apache:pdfbox:2.0.0:-:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 2.0.0 Vulnerable ·Apache
- cpe:2.3:o:fedoraproject:fedora:29:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 29 Vulnerable ·Fedoraproject
- cpe:2.3:o:fedoraproject:fedora:30:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 30 Vulnerable ·Fedoraproject
- cpe:2.3:a:oracle:retail_xstore_point_of_service:17.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 17.0 Vulnerable ·Oracle
Remediation
- Fix · GHSA-gx96-vgf7-hwfg org.apache.pdfbox:pdfbox (Maven) Fixed in 1.8.16 Advisory →
- Fix · GHSA-gx96-vgf7-hwfg org.apache.pdfbox:pdfbox (Maven) Fixed in 2.0.12 Advisory →
Red Hat 1 advisory
- RHSA-2020:3192 Released 2020-07-28 · Red Hat rating ImportantRed Hat Fuse 7.7.0 release and security update
- Red Hat Fuse 7.7.0
Vendor assessments
Red Hat
Red Hat rating: Moderate. Red Hat's page for this CVE →
| Product | Status | Plan or fix |
|---|---|---|
| Red Hat BPM Suite 6 | Affected | No fix planned: Out of support scope |
| Red Hat JBoss BRMS 6 | Affected | No fix planned: Out of support scope |
| Red Hat JBoss Data Virtualization 6 | Affected | No fix planned: Out of support scope |
| Red Hat JBoss Fuse 6 | Affected | No fix planned: Out of support scope |
| Red Hat JBoss Fuse Service Works 6 | Affected | No fix planned: Out of support scope |
| Red Hat Satellite 5 | Affected | No fix planned: Will not fix |
| Red Hat Fuse 7.7.0 | Fixed | RHSA-2020:3192 |
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2018-11797
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-gx96-vgf7-hwfg
References
Advisory 5
Other 8
- [announce] 20181006 [UPDATE][CVE-2018-11797] DoS vulnerability in Apache PDFBox parser
- [announce] 20181005 [CVE-2018-11797] DoS vulnerability in Apache PDFBox parser
- [pdfbox-dev] 20210518 CVE's
- https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/645574bc50b886d39c20b4065d51ccb1cd5d3a6b4750a22edbb565eb@%3Cannounce.apache.org%3E
- https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/a9760973a873522f4d4c0a99916ceb74f361d91006b663a0a418d34a@%3Cannounce.apache.org%3E
- https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/r54594251369e14c185da9662a5340a52afbbdf75d61c9c3a69c8f2e8@%3Cdev.pdfbox.apache.org%3E
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/[email protected]/message/6HKVPTJWZGUB4MH4AAOWMRJHRDBYFHGJ
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/[email protected]/message/POPOGHJ5CVMUVCRQU7APBAN5IVZGZFDX
More Apache Pdfbox vulnerabilities
- TI-2019-00201 XML external entity injection in Apache PDFBox CVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.8
- TI-2016-01985 Apache PDFBox before 1.8.12 and 2.x before 2.0.1 does not properly initialize the XML… CVSS 3.0HIGH 7.8
- TI-2018-05813 Infinite loop in Apache PDFBox CVSS 3.0MEDIUM 6.5
- TI-2021-11808 A carefully crafted PDF file can trigger an OutOfMemory-Exception while loading a tiny file CVSS 3.1MEDIUM 5.5
- TI-2021-09241 A carefully crafted PDF file can trigger an OutOfMemory-Exception while loading the file CVSS 3.1MEDIUM 5.5
- TI-2021-11809 A carefully crafted PDF file can trigger an infinite loop while loading the file CVSS 3.1MEDIUM 5.5
Sources
- CVE-2018-11797 · CVE Program
- CVE-2018-11797 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-gx96-vgf7-hwfg · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2018-11797 · Red Hat security data · CC BY 4.0
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