CVE-2024-7866
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 Xpdf 4.05 (and earlier), a PDF object loop in a pattern resource leads to infinite recursion and a stack overflow.
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 confidenceXpdf versions 4.05 and earlier contain a vulnerability in PDF pattern resource parsing where a crafted PDF with cyclic object references triggers infinite recursion, causing a stack overflow and denial of service.
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<= 4.05CVSS 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:3.1/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 versionExecute 'xpdf --version' in the terminal or check the application's About/Properties dialog to locate the installed version numberAffected if The version is 4.05 or any earlier version
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Confirm PDF parsing usageDetermine if Xpdf is actively being used to open, view, or process PDF files - the vulnerability triggers during PDF document parsingAffected if Xpdf is used to open or process any PDF documents
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Examine PDF for pattern resourcesUse a PDF parsing tool or hex editor to inspect PDF files for /Pattern objects in the resource dictionary - these are the specific objects that can contain the cyclic references triggering the infinite recursionAffected if A PDF file contains /Pattern resources with cyclic object references that Xpdf will attempt to parse
If Xpdf version 4.05 or earlier is installed and used to process PDF files containing pattern resources with cyclic object references, the environment is vulnerable to CVE-2024-7866
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.
dbcve · scopedUpgrade to Xpdf version 4.06 or later. Alternatively, sanitize or reject PDF files with pattern resources that contain object loops before processing.
Xpdf 4.06 or later
- 1. Visit the official Xpdf download page at www.xpdfreader.com to obtain the latest version
- 2. Download the latest Xpdf version (4.06 or later) for your operating system
- 3. Uninstall or remove the existing Xpdf installation
- 4. Install the newly downloaded version
- 5. Verify the installation by running xpdf -v to confirm the version number
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation6.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2024-7866 — 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-2024-7866 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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