CVE-2018-8001
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 · uneditedIn PoDoFo 0.9.5, there exists a heap-based buffer over-read vulnerability in UnescapeName() in PdfName.cpp. Remote attackers could leverage this vulnerability to cause a denial-of-service or possibly unspecified other impact via a crafted pdf file.
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 confidencePoDoFo 0.9.5 contains a heap-based buffer over-read vulnerability in the UnescapeName() function in PdfName.cpp. When processing specially crafted PDF files, the function reads beyond the allocated heap buffer, potentially exposing sensitive memory contents or causing application crashes.
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= 0.9.5CVSS 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
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/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 if PoDoFo library is presentSearch for PoDoFo library files (libpodofo, podofo, or PdfName.cpp) in your system directories, application dependencies, or source code repositoriesAffected if PoDoFo library files are found in your environment
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Determine installed PoDoFo versionCheck the version of the PoDoFo library binary or source code (commonly found in library metadata, package manager output, or version headers)Affected if The version is exactly 0.9.5
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Verify PDF processing capability is in useIdentify whether your application or service uses PoDoFo to process PDF files, particularly from external or untrusted sourcesAffected if Your application uses PoDoFo to parse or handle PDF input
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Confirm UnescapeName function is reachableReview application logs, stack traces, or code execution paths to determine if PdfName::UnescapeName() is invoked during PDF parsing operationsAffected if The application invokes the UnescapeName() function when processing PDFs
You are affected if you are running PoDoFo version 0.9.5 and processing PDF files through the UnescapeName() function in PdfName.cpp
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 to a patched version of PoDoFo library. If no patched version is available, implement input validation and bounds checking in UnescapeName() to ensure buffer limits are respected before reading.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $6,176.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2018-8001 — 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-2018-8001 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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