# CVE-2025-52885: GHSL-2025-042: Poppler has Use-After-Free

> A use-after-free vulnerability in Poppler allows attackers to execute arbitrary code or cause denial of service via crafted PDF files.

- **Severity:** Medium 6.1 (`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`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 10 Oct 2025
- **Updated:** 4 Nov 2025
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2025-52885, DEBIAN-CVE-2025-52885, ECHO-7d56-ab20-1ebd, JLSEC-2026-89, MGASA-2025-0251, SUSE-SU-2025:21132-1, UBUNTU-CVE-2025-52885, USN-7858-1, openSUSE-SU-2025:15648-1, openSUSE-SU-2025:20068-1

## What is CVE-2025-52885?

CVE-2025-52885 is a medium-severity use after free vulnerability in poppler, published on 10 Oct 2025. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

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.

Weakness: CWE-416 (Use After Free)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2025-52885?


| Package | Ecosystem | Affected | Fixed in |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `poppler` | SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server 16.0 | All versions | 25.04.0-160000.3.1 |
| `poppler-qt6` | SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server 16.0 | All versions | 25.04.0-160000.3.1 |
| `poppler` | SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server for SAP applications 16.0 | All versions | 25.04.0-160000.3.1 |
| `poppler-qt6` | SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server for SAP applications 16.0 | All versions | 25.04.0-160000.3.1 |
| `poppler` | openSUSE:Leap 16.0 | All versions | 25.04.0-160000.3.1 |
| `poppler-qt5` | openSUSE:Leap 16.0 | All versions | 25.04.0-160000.3.1 |
| `poppler-qt6` | openSUSE:Leap 16.0 | All versions | 25.04.0-160000.3.1 |
| `poppler` | openSUSE:Tumbleweed | All versions | 25.09.1-2.1 |

## How do I fix CVE-2025-52885?

Upgrade to a fixed version.

## Is CVE-2025-52885 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2025-52885 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2025-52885 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2025-52885 is a medium-severity use after free vulnerability in poppler, published on 10 Oct 2025. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2025-52885 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: poppler. 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-2025-52885/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-52885/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2025-52885
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-52885
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2025-52885

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-52885/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.