# CVE-2020-18972: Information disclosure in n/a

> Attackers can obtain sensitive information from PoDoFo PDF library via a flaw in the tokenizer component.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.5 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N`)
- **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:** No
- **Published:** 25 Aug 2021
- **Updated:** 4 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2020-18972, GHSA-x4h7-rg57-2fqw

## What is CVE-2020-18972?

CVE-2020-18972 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Podofo Project Podofo, published on 25 Aug 2021. 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

Exposure of Sensitive Information to an Unauthorized Actor in PoDoFo v0.9.6 allows attackers to obtain sensitive information via 'IsNextToken' in the component 'src/base/PdfToenizer.cpp'.

Weakness: CWE-668 (Exposure of Resource to Wrong Sphere)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2020-18972?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Podofo Project Podofo.

## How do I fix CVE-2020-18972?

No fix has been published for CVE-2020-18972 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2020-18972 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2020-18972 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Podofo Project Podofo

- [CVE-2017-8378](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-8378/): Memory corruption in n/a (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2015-8981](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2015-8981/): Memory corruption in n/a (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2023-31556](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-31556/): Memory corruption in n/a (high 8.8)
- [CVE-2023-31566](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-31566/): Use after free in n/a (high 8.8)
- [CVE-2023-31567](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-31567/): Memory corruption in n/a (high 8.8)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2020-18972 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2020-18972 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Podofo Project Podofo, published on 25 Aug 2021. 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-2020-18972 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Podofo Project Podofo. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

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-2020-18972/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-18972/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2020-18972
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2020-18972
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2020-18972

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-18972/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.