#VU16709 NULL pointer dereference in Poppler - CVE-2018-20481

Vulnerability identifier: #VU16709

Vulnerability risk: Low

CVSSv4.0: 6.6 [CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:U/U:Clear]

CVE-ID: CVE-2018-20481

CWE-ID: CWE-476

Exploitation vector: Network

Exploit availability: No

Vulnerable software:
Poppler
Client/Desktop applications / Office applications

Vendor: Freedesktop.org

Description

The vulnerability allows a remote attacker to perform a denial of service (DoS) attack.

The vulnerability exists due to a NULL pointer dereference error when XRef::getEntry in XRef.cc mishandles unallocated XRef entries. A remote attacker can trigger denial of service conditions via a specially crafted PDF document, when XRefEntry::setFlag in XRef.h is called from Parser::makeStream in Parser.cc.

Mitigation
Install update from vendor's website.

Vulnerable software versions

Poppler: 0.72

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External links
https://gitlab.freedesktop.org/poppler/poppler/issues/692
https://gitlab.freedesktop.org/poppler/poppler/merge_requests/143

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Q & A

Can this vulnerability be exploited remotely?

Yes. This vulnerability can be exploited by a remote non-authenticated attacker via the Internet.

Is there known malware, which exploits this vulnerability?

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