CVE-2018-18457
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 · uneditedThe function DCTStream::readScan in Stream.cc in Xpdf 4.00 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (NULL pointer dereference) via a crafted pdf file, as demonstrated by pdftoppm.
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 NULL pointer dereference vulnerability exists in the DCTStream::readScan function in Stream.cc of Xpdf 4.00. When processing a specially crafted PDF file containing maliciously constructed DCT (JPEG) stream data, the function fails to properly validate a pointer before dereferencing it, leading to a crash when the tool attempts to render or convert the PDF.
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= 4.00CVSS 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 Xpdf versionRun 'pdftoppm -v' or 'xpdf -v' to check the installed Xpdf version, or check your package manager for the installed xpdf package versionAffected if Version is exactly 4.00 (other versions including 4.01 and later are not affected)
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Confirm DCT/JPEG stream processing capabilityThe vulnerability is triggered when Xpdf parses PDF files containing DCT (JPEG) compressed stream data. Any PDF with embedded JPEG images will exercise this code path when using tools like pdftoppm, pdfinfo, or xpdf to render or extract contentAffected if The installed Xpdf 4.00 is used to process PDF files containing DCT/JPEG streams (this is the default behavior for most PDF rendering)
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Locate Stream.cc for version confirmationIf Xpdf was built from source, verify the file Stream.cc contains the DCTStream::readScan function and was part of the 4.00 releaseAffected if Running Xpdf 4.00 built from the affected source code release
You are affected if Xpdf version 4.00 is installed and you process PDF files containing DCT (JPEG) compressed stream data with any Xpdf utility.
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 Xpdf to version 4.01 or later which contains the fix for this vulnerability. If patching is not immediately feasible, restrict processing of untrusted PDF files and use sandboxing/isolation when handling potentially malicious documents with tools like pdftoppm.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation6.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA3.0 h
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2018-18457 — 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-2018-18457 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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