TikaApplication · Apache
CVE-2018-1338
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 · uneditedA carefully crafted (or fuzzed) file can trigger an infinite loop in Apache Tika's BPGParser in versions of Apache Tika before 1.18.
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 confidenceA specially crafted BPG (Better Portable Graphics) file can cause Apache Tika's BPGParser to enter an infinite loop, leading to denial of service via CPU exhaustion. The vulnerability exists in versions of Apache Tika prior to 1.18.
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
TikaApplication
< 1.18CVSS 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
- Local
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- Required
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- None
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
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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Identify Apache Tika versionLocate the Tika JAR file or installation directory and check the version metadata (e.g., tika-core JAR filename, META-INF/MANIFEST.MF inside the JAR, or version command output if using a packaged distribution).Affected if The installed version is any release prior to 1.18 (e.g., 1.17, 1.16, 1.15, etc.).
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Confirm BPGParser is presentSearch for the BPGParser class or JAR component within the Tika installation (typically packaged as tika-parser-bpg or included in a bundled parser package).Affected if The BPGParser class exists in the Tika deployment.
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Verify BPG parsing is enabled by defaultReview Tika's default parser configuration or META-INF/services/org.apache.tika.parser.Parser file to confirm BPGParser is listed among auto-loaded parsers.Affected if BPGParser is auto-loaded and available for parsing BPG files without explicit configuration changes.
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Assess exposure to untrusted BPG inputDetermine whether Tika processes BPG files from untrusted or external sources (e.g., file upload endpoints, document indexing pipelines, or user-submitted content).Affected if Tika is configured to parse BPG files from untrusted or public-facing input sources.
You are affected if your Apache Tika version is below 1.18 and the BPGParser is enabled to process BPG files from any input source.
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 data1.18
Upgrade Apache Tika to version 1.18 or later to receive the BPGParser fix. If immediate upgrade is not feasible, consider disabling or restricting the BPGParser for untrusted input.
Fix this in Tika
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing4.0 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 $2,752.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2018-1338 — 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-2018-1338 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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- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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