ChromeWeb browser · Google
CVE-2014-7903
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 · uneditedBuffer overflow in OpenJPEG before r2911 in PDFium, as used in Google Chrome before 39.0.2171.65, allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service or possibly have unspecified other impact via a crafted JPEG image.
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 confidenceBuffer overflow vulnerability in OpenJPEG library (before r2911) integrated into PDFium, which is used by Google Chrome for PDF rendering. The flaw exists in the processing of crafted JPEG 2000 images, allowing attackers to overflow a buffer and cause denial of service or potentially achieve arbitrary code execution via malicious PDF files containing specially crafted JPEG images.
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
ChromeWeb browser
<= 39.0.2171.45CVSS 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
- Low
- Authentication
- None
- Confidentiality
- Partial
- Integrity
- Partial
- Availability
- Partial
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P
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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Check your Google Chrome versionNavigate to chrome://settings/help or click Menu > About Google Chrome to view the installed version numberAffected if The version listed is 39.0.2171.45 or earlier
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Confirm PDFium component presenceGoogle Chrome includes PDF rendering by default. Verify by opening any PDF file in Chrome or checking if the internal PDF viewer is accessible at chrome://pdf-viewer/Affected if PDF viewing capability is enabled and accessible in the browser
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Identify OpenJPEG library integrationThis vulnerability exists in the OpenJPEG library (before r2911) integrated into Chrome's PDF rendering engine (PDFium). The affected component activates when Chrome renders PDF files containing JPEG 2000 imagesAffected if PDF files with JPEG 2000 images can be processed by the browser's built-in PDF viewer
You are affected if you are running Google Chrome version 39.0.2171.45 or earlier and use the built-in PDF viewer to open PDF files that may contain maliciously crafted JPEG 2000 images.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
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 dataUpdate Google Chrome to version 39.0.2171.65 or later which includes the patched OpenJPEG library (r2911). Organizations should also ensure PDF rendering components are kept up to date and consider restricting PDF rendering from untrusted sources.
Fix this in Chrome
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,088.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2014-7903 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2014-7903 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- 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
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