# CVE-2018-11797: In Apache PDFBox a carefully crafted PDF file can trigger an extremely long running computation

> Attackers can cause denial of service by submitting crafted PDF files that trigger excessive computation during parsing in Apache PDFBox.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.5 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** A user has to click or open something
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 5 Oct 2018
- **Updated:** 16 Sep 2024
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2018-11797, DLA-1547-1, GHSA-gx96-vgf7-hwfg, SUSE-SU-2018:3755-1, UBUNTU-CVE-2018-11797

## What is CVE-2018-11797?

CVE-2018-11797 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Fedoraproject Fedora, published on 5 Oct 2018. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.

### Official description

In Apache PDFBox 1.8.0 to 1.8.15 and 2.0.0RC1 to 2.0.11, a carefully crafted PDF file can trigger an extremely long running computation when parsing the page tree.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2018-11797?

4 open source packages ship an affected version, including org.apache.pdfbox:pdfbox. It affects 3 products.


| Package | Ecosystem | Affected | Fixed in |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `org.apache.pdfbox:pdfbox` | Maven | From 1.8.0 | 1.8.16 |
| `org.apache.pdfbox:pdfbox` | Maven | From 1.8.0 | 1.8.16 |
| `org.apache.pdfbox:pdfbox` | Maven | From 2.0.0 | 2.0.12 |
| `org.apache.pdfbox:pdfbox` | Maven | From 2.0.0 | 2.0.12 |
| `apache-pdfbox` | SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Development Tools 15 | All versions | 1.8.12-5.6.3 |

Products: Apache Pdfbox, Fedoraproject Fedora, Oracle Retail Xstore Point of Service.

## How do I fix CVE-2018-11797?

Upgrade org.apache.pdfbox:pdfbox to a fixed version for your release line: 1.8.16 or 2.0.12.

## Is CVE-2018-11797 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2018-11797 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Fedoraproject Fedora

- [CVE-2016-2175](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-2175/): High severity vulnerability that affects org.apache.pdfbox:pdfbox (high 7.8)
- [CVE-2018-8036](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-8036/): Loop with Unreachable Exit Condition in Apache PDFBox (medium 6.5)
- [CVE-2021-31811](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-31811/): A carefully crafted PDF file can trigger an OutOfMemory-Exception while loading a tiny file (medium 5.5)
- [CVE-2021-31812](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-31812/): A carefully crafted PDF file can trigger an infinite loop while loading the file (medium 5.5)
- [CVE-2021-27807](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-27807/): A carefully crafted PDF file can trigger an infinite loop while loading the file (medium 5.5)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2018-11797 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2018-11797 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Fedoraproject Fedora, published on 5 Oct 2018. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2018-11797 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected packages and fixed versions:
- org.apache.pdfbox:pdfbox (Maven): affected from 1.8.0; fixed in 1.8.16
- org.apache.pdfbox:pdfbox (Maven): affected from 1.8.0; fixed in 1.8.16
- org.apache.pdfbox:pdfbox (Maven): affected from 2.0.0; fixed in 2.0.12
- org.apache.pdfbox:pdfbox (Maven): affected from 2.0.0; fixed in 2.0.12

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-11797/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-11797/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2018-11797
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2018-11797
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2018-11797

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-11797/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.