#VU16830 Input validation error in Poppler - CVE-2018-20662

Vulnerability identifier: #VU16830

Vulnerability risk: Low

CVSSv4.0: 7.7 [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:P/U:Clear]

CVE-ID: CVE-2018-20662

CWE-ID: CWE-20

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 wrong return value from PDFDoc::setup when an xref data structure is mishandled during extractPDFSubtype processing. A remote attacker can trick the victim into opening a specially crafter PDF file cause application crash by Object.h SIGABRT.

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/commit/9fd5ec0e6e5f763b190f2a55ceb5427cfe851d5f
https://gitlab.freedesktop.org/poppler/poppler/issues/706

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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. However, proof of concept for this vulnerability is available.