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MimetexApplication · Ctan

CVE-2024-40446

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-04-22
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 1.77 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

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 issue in forkosh Mime Tex before v.1.77 allows an attacker to execute arbitrary code via a crafted script

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

Mime Tex before version 1.77 contains a code injection vulnerability that allows attackers to execute arbitrary code through specially crafted LaTeX scripts. This is a remote code execution (RCE) flaw in the forkosh Mime Tex library, which is commonly used for rendering mathematical expressions on web pages.

MitigationUpgrade forkosh Mime Tex to version 1.77 or later. If upgrading is not immediately possible, restrict or disable user-supplied LaTeX input and implement strict input validation/filtering as a temporary measure.

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
MimetexApplication
Affected:< 1.77

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
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/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 checks

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

  1. Locate Mime Tex installation
    Search for mimetex executable or library files on the system. Common locations include /usr/bin/, /usr/local/bin/, or within web application directories. Look for files named 'mimetex', 'mimetex.cgi', or similar.
    Affected if Mime Tex is found installed on the system
  2. Determine installed version
    Run 'mimetex --version' or 'mimetex -v' if a command-line version exists. For web deployments, check the source files or the banner returned by the CGI script. Compare the version number against v1.77.
    Affected if Installed version is lower than 1.77 or version cannot be determined
  3. Identify exposure method
    Determine how Mime Tex is deployed: as a CGI script, embedded library, or command-line tool. Check web server configurations for mimetex.cgi or similar endpoints. Review any configuration files that define how Mime Tex is invoked.
    Affected if Mime Tex is accessible via web interface or CGI
  4. Check input handling
    If Mime Tex is used by an application, inspect how user input is passed to the rendering function. Look for direct concatenation of user input into LaTeX commands without sanitization. Examine the application's request handling code for the mimetex endpoint.
    Affected if User-supplied input is passed directly to Mime Tex without validation

The environment is affected if Mime Tex (any variant of mimetex or mimetex.cgi) is installed and the installed version is below 1.77, regardless of whether it is network-accessible.

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.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 1.77 or later
Fixed in 1.77
Interim mitigation

Upgrade forkosh Mime Tex to version 1.77 or later. If upgrading is not immediately possible, restrict or disable user-supplied LaTeX input and implement strict input validation/filtering as a temporary measure.

Recommended fix High confidence

MimeTeX version 1.77

  1. Identify all deployments of MimeTeX in your environment
  2. Check the currently installed MimeTeX version (typically displayed in the web interface or via --version flag)
  3. Download MimeTeX version 1.77 or later from the official repository (github.com/username/repo)
  4. Replace the existing MimeTeex executable/files with the new version
  5. Restart any web services or CGI processes using MimeTeX
  6. Verify the upgrade was successful by checking the version number
  7. Test that MimeTeX functions normally with legitimate LaTeX expressions

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Mimetex Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
10.0 hours of engineering $1,720
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,752.

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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-2024-40446 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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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