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PopplerApplication

CVE-2009-3607

HIGH · 9.3 CVSS v2.0 Published 2009-10-21
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
Integer overflow in the create_surface_from_thumbnail_data function in glib/poppler-page.cc in Poppler 0.x allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (memory corruption) or possibly execute arbitrary code via a crafted PDF document that triggers a heap-based buffer overflow. NOTE: some of these details are obtained from third party information.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · high confidence

Integer overflow in Poppler's create_surface_from_thumbnail_data function allows heap-based buffer overflow when processing a crafted PDF with malicious thumbnail data, potentially leading to memory corruption and arbitrary code execution.

MitigationUpgrade to a patched version of Poppler; avoid opening untrusted PDF documents until the library is updated.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
PopplerApplication
Affected:= 0.1= 0.1.1= 0.1.2= 0.2.0= 0.3.0= 0.3.1= 0.3.2= 0.3.3= 0.4.0= 0.4.1= 0.4.2= 0.4.3

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
M
Authentication
None
Confidentiality
Complete
Integrity
Complete
Availability
Complete

AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify installed Poppler version
    Run `pkg-config --modversion poppler` or `poppler-config --version`, or query your package manager (dpkg -l | grep poppler, rpm -qa | grep poppler)
    Affected if the reported version is between 0.1 and 0.4.3 inclusive
  2. Locate Poppler library files
    Search for libpoppler shared library with `ldconfig -p | grep poppler` or `find /usr -name 'libpoppler*' 2>/dev/null`
    Affected if libpoppler.so exists and links to an affected version
  3. Check for PDF tools using Poppler
    Identify Poppler-dependent tools such as pdfinfo, pdftotext, pdfimages, or any custom application that renders or processes PDFs: run `ldd $(which pdfinfo) 2>/dev/null | grep poppler`
    Affected if Poppler-linked PDF processing tools are installed on the system
  4. Verify thumbnail processing exposure
    The vulnerability triggers when processing PDF files containing embedded thumbnail images. Determine if your PDF tools or applications process thumbnails by default or accept untrusted PDF input.
    Affected if the environment processes PDF documents (particularly those from untrusted sources) using Poppler-based tools

You are affected if Poppler version 0.1 through 0.4.3 is installed and your system processes PDF files using Poppler-based tools.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

From vendor data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Upgrade to a patched version of Poppler; avoid opening untrusted PDF documents until the library is updated.

Fix this in Poppler Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing8.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
24.0 hours of engineering $4,160
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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2009-3607 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data