Input validation error in PDFBox

1) Input validation error

EUVDB-ID: #VU40255

Risk: Low

CVSSv3.1: 6.8 [CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H/E:U/RL:O/RC:C]

CVE-ID: CVE-2016-2175

CWE-ID: CWE-20 - Improper input validation

Exploit availability: No

Description

The vulnerability allows a local authenticated user to execute arbitrary code.

Apache PDFBox before 1.8.12 and 2.x before 2.0.1 does not properly initialize the XML parsers, which allows context-dependent attackers to conduct XML External Entity (XXE) attacks via a crafted PDF. <a href="http://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/611.html">CWE-611: Improper Restriction of XML External Entity Reference ('XXE')</a>

Mitigation

Install update from vendor's website.

Vulnerable software versions

PDFBox: 1.8.0 - 2.0

Debian Linux: 1.8.0 - 8.0

CPE2.3

• cpe:2.3:a:apache_foundation:pdfbox:1.8.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
• cpe:2.3:a:apache_foundation:pdfbox:1.8.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
• cpe:2.3:a:apache_foundation:pdfbox:1.8.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
• cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:1.8.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
• cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:1.8.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
• cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:1.8.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

External links

http://mail-archives.us.apache.org/mod_mbox/www-announce/201605.mbox/%3C83a03bcf-f86b-4688-37b5-615c080291d8@apache.org%3E
http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/137214/Apache-PDFBox-1.8.11-2.0.0-XML-Injection.html
http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2017-0179.html
http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2017-0248.html
http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2017-0249.html
http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2017-0272.html
http://svn.apache.org/viewvc?view=revision&revision=1739564
http://svn.apache.org/viewvc?view=revision&revision=1739565
http://www.debian.org/security/2016/dsa-3606
http://www.securityfocus.com/archive/1/538503/100/0/threaded
http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/90902
http://lists.apache.org/thread.html/ad5fbc86c1d1821ae1b963e8561ab6d6a5f66b2848e84f5a31477f54@%3Ccommits.tika.apache.org%3E

Q & A

Can this vulnerability be exploited remotely?

No. This vulnerability can be exploited locally. The attacker should have authentication credentials and successfully authenticate on the system.

Is there known malware, which exploits this vulnerability?

No. We are not aware of malware exploiting this vulnerability.