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Use After FreeWeakness · CWE-416

CVE-2025-52885

MEDIUM · 6.1 CVSS v4.0 Published 2025-10-10
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
66/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
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
Poppler ia a library for rendering PDF files, and examining or modifying their structure. A use-after-free (write) vulnerability has been detected in versions Poppler prior to 25.10.0 within the StructTreeRoot class. The issue arises from the use of raw pointers to elements of a `std::vector`, which can lead to dangling pointers when the vector is resized. The vulnerability stems from the way that refToParentMap stores references to `std::vector` elements using raw pointers. These pointers may become invalid when the vector is resized. This vulnerability is a common security problem involving the use of raw pointers to `std::vectors`. Internally, `std::vector `stores its elements in a dynamically allocated array. When the array reaches its capacity and a new element is added, the vector reallocates a larger block of memory and moves all the existing elements to the new location. At this point if any pointers to elements are stored before a resize occurs, they become dangling pointers once the reallocation happens. Version 25.10.0 contains a patch for the issue.

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 confidence

Use-after-free (write) vulnerability in Poppler's StructTreeRoot class where raw pointers to std::vector elements stored in refToParentMap become dangling when the vector resizes. The pointers are invalidated upon reallocation, leading to potential memory corruption when the code writes through these invalid pointers.

MitigationUpgrade to Poppler version 25.10.0 or later which contains the patch. As an interim measure, avoid processing PDF files with complex logical structure until patched.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

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
Authentication
X
User interaction
None
Scope
X

CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:U/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X

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 Poppler version
    Run 'poppler-config --version' or 'pdftotext -v' to retrieve the installed Poppler version. On Linux systems, also check '/usr/lib/libpoppler.so*' files and use 'readelf -d' or check the package manager with 'dpkg -l | grep poppler' or 'rpm -qa | grep poppler'.
    Affected if Version is lower than 25.10.0 (e.g., 25.09.0, 24.x, 23.x, etc.)
  2. Confirm Poppler is in use
    Identify applications or services that process PDF files and check if they link to the Poppler library using 'ldd <executable>' or by reviewing the application's dependency list.
    Affected if Applications process PDF files using Poppler library (e.g., Okular, Evince, PDF viewers, document converters)
  3. Determine if PDF logical structure is processed
    The vulnerability triggers when processing PDFs with complex logical structure (StructTreeRoot). Check if your workflow involves PDFs with tagged content, accessibility structures, or outline hierarchies. Use tools like 'pdfinfo' or examine PDF objects with 'pdftk dump' to identify PDFs containing '/StructTreeRoot' objects.
    Affected if PDFs containing logical structure (/StructTreeRoot) are processed by the Poppler version in use

You are affected if Poppler version is below 25.10.0 AND your system processes PDF files with logical structure using that vulnerable Poppler installation.

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
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Upgrade to Poppler version 25.10.0 or later which contains the patch. As an interim measure, avoid processing PDF files with complex logical structure until patched.

Recommended fix High confidence

Poppler 25.10.0 or later

  1. 1. Identify the current Poppler version installed in your system using package manager queries or checking library version
  2. 2. Download or obtain Poppler version 25.10.0 or later from the official source (gitlab.freedesktop.org/poppler/poppler)
  3. 3. Compile and install the new version following standard build procedures, or update via your system's package manager if available
  4. 4. Verify the installation by checking that the new version is active (e.g., `pdftoppm -v` or checking library files)
  5. 5. Test PDF rendering functionality to ensure the upgrade does not break existing workflows

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

Have this fixed Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation6.0 h
  • Implementation12.0 h
  • Testing10.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
32.0 hours of engineering $5,580
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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-2025-52885 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

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What belongs here
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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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