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XpdfApplication · Xpdfreader

CVE-2018-7455

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.0 Published 2018-02-24
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
58/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
No privileges

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
An out-of-bounds read in JPXStream::readTilePart in JPXStream.cc in xpdf 4.00 allows attackers to launch denial of service via a specific pdf file, as demonstrated by pdftohtml.

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 · moderate confidence

An out-of-bounds read vulnerability exists in JPXStream::readTilePart in JPXStream.cc of xpdf 4.00 when parsing JPEG2000 (JPX) image streams within PDF files. The lack of proper bounds validation when reading tile parts allows specially crafted PDF files to trigger a denial of service condition via the pdftohtml utility or other xpdf-based tools.

MitigationUpdate xpdf to a version that includes bounds checking fixes in the JPXStream parsing code, or sanitize/validate PDF files containing JPX image streams before processing them with xpdf-based tools.

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
XpdfApplication
Affected:= 4.00

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
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 checks

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

  1. Check installed xpdf version
    Run 'xpdf -v' or 'pdftotext -v' to display the version number of xpdf tools
    Affected if Version is exactly 4.00
  2. Check for pdftohtml utility
    Run 'which pdftohtml' or check for /usr/bin/pdftohtml to see if the vulnerable tool is present
    Affected if pdftohtml is installed alongside xpdf 4.00
  3. Identify xpdf-based tools in use
    Run 'dpkg -l | grep xpdf' or 'rpm -qa | grep xpdf' to list all installed xpdf packages and utilities
    Affected if Any xpdf 4.00 tools are installed
  4. Check for PDF processing workflows with JPX content
    Inspect any automated PDF processing scripts or tools that may handle PDF files containing JPEG2000 (JPX) image streams
    Affected if PDF files with JPX streams are processed by xpdf-based tools

You are affected if xpdf version 4.00 is installed and you process PDF files containing JPEG2000 (JPX) image streams with tools like pdftohtml or other xpdf utilities.

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

Update xpdf to a version that includes bounds checking fixes in the JPXStream parsing code, or sanitize/validate PDF files containing JPX image streams before processing them with xpdf-based tools.

Fix this in Xpdf Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
14.0 hours of engineering $2,440
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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-2018-7455 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