CVE-2021-31812

A carefully crafted PDF file can trigger an infinite loop while loading the file

5.5 MediumFix available

In Apache PDFBox, a carefully crafted PDF file can trigger an infinite loop while loading the file. This issue affects Apache PDFBox version 2.0.23 and prior 2.0.x versions.

Attack profile

How easy it is to exploit

Attack vector: Local
Complexity: Low
Privileges needed: None
User interaction: Required

What an attacker can affect

Confidentiality: None
Integrity: None
Availability: High

Exploit likelihood

3.05%Up 2.0 points since Jun 13, 2021

What each source reports

NVD Score used 5.5

In Apache PDFBox, a carefully crafted PDF file can trigger an infinite loop while loading the file. This issue affects Apache PDFBox version 2.0.23 and prior 2.0.x versions.

Record: CVE-2021-31812
CVSS 3.1: 5.5 MediumCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
CVSS 2.0: 4.3 MediumAV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:P
Weakness: CWE-834, CWE-835
Updated: 2026-11-02

CVE List No score

A carefully crafted PDF file can trigger an infinite loop while loading the file

In Apache PDFBox, a carefully crafted PDF file can trigger an infinite loop while loading the file. This issue affects Apache PDFBox version 2.0.23 and prior 2.0.x versions.

Record: CVE-2021-31812
Weakness: CWE-834
Updated: 2026-11-02

EUVDEUVD-2021-1279 No score

In Apache PDFBox, a carefully crafted PDF file can trigger an infinite loop while loading the file. This issue affects Apache PDFBox version 2.0.23 and prior 2.0.x versions.

Record: EUVD-2021-1279
Updated: 2026-11-03

GitHub AdvisoriesGHSA-7grw-6pjh-jpc9 5.5

Infinite Loop in Apache PDFBox

In Apache PDFBox, a carefully crafted PDF file can trigger an infinite loop while loading the file. This issue affects Apache PDFBox version 2.0.23 and prior 2.0.x versions.

Record: GHSA-7grw-6pjh-jpc9
CVSS 3.1: 5.5 MediumCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Weakness: CWE-834, CWE-835
Updated: 2026-11-02

OSV 5.5

In Apache PDFBox, a carefully crafted PDF file can trigger an infinite loop while loading the file. This issue affects Apache PDFBox version 2.0.23 and prior 2.0.x versions.

Record: CVE-2021-31812
CVSS 3.1: 5.5 MediumCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Updated: 2026-11-02

OSVDEBIAN-CVE-2021-31812 5.5

In Apache PDFBox, a carefully crafted PDF file can trigger an infinite loop while loading the file. This issue affects Apache PDFBox version 2.0.23 and prior 2.0.x versions.

Record: DEBIAN-CVE-2021-31812
CVSS 3.1: 5.5 MediumCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Updated: 2026-11-02

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OSVGHSA-7grw-6pjh-jpc9 5.5

Infinite Loop in Apache PDFBox

In Apache PDFBox, a carefully crafted PDF file can trigger an infinite loop while loading the file. This issue affects Apache PDFBox version 2.0.23 and prior 2.0.x versions.

Record: GHSA-7grw-6pjh-jpc9
CVSS 3.1: 5.5 MediumCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Weakness: CWE-834, CWE-835
Updated: 2026-11-02

OSVOESA-2021-1256 5.5

pdfbox security update

Apache PDFBox is an open source Java PDF library for working with PDF documents. This project allows creation of new PDF documents, manipulation of existing documents and the ability to extract content from documents. Apache PDFBox also includes several command line utilities. Apache PDFBox is published under the Apache License v2.0.

Security Fix(es):

In Apache PDFBox, a carefully crafted PDF file can trigger an OutOfMemory-Exception while loading the file. This issue affects Apache PDFBox version 2.0.23 and prior 2.0.x versions.(CVE-2021-31811)

In Apache PDFBox, a carefully crafted PDF file can trigger an infinite loop while loading the file. This issue affects Apache PDFBox version 2.0.23 and prior 2.0.x versions.(CVE-2021-31812)

Record: OESA-2021-1256
CVSS 3.1: 5.5 MediumCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Updated: 2026-11-02

OSVUBUNTU-CVE-2021-31812 5.5

In Apache PDFBox, a carefully crafted PDF file can trigger an infinite loop while loading the file. This issue affects Apache PDFBox version 2.0.23 and prior 2.0.x versions.

Record: UBUNTU-CVE-2021-31812
CVSS 3.1: 5.5 MediumCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Updated: 2026-11-02

OSVMGASA-2021-0378 No score

Updated pdfbox packages fix security vulnerabilities

In Apache PDFBox, a carefully crafted PDF file can trigger an OutOfMemory-Exception while loading the file. This issue affects Apache PDFBox version 2.0.23 and prior 2.0.x versions (CVE-2021-31811).

In Apache PDFBox, a carefully crafted PDF file can trigger an infinite loop while loading the file. This issue affects Apache PDFBox version 2.0.23 and prior 2.0.x versions (CVE-2021-31812).

Record: MGASA-2021-0378
Updated: 2026-11-02

Affected products

Affected packages

Affected packages
Package	Affected	Fixed
`org.apache.pdfbox:pdfbox` Maven	2.0.0 up to 2.0.24	2.0.24
`org.apache.pdfbox:pdfbox-parent` Maven	2.0.0 up to 2.0.24	2.0.24
`libpdfbox-java` Debian:12	All versions, plus listed versions 1:1.8.16-21:1.8.16-31:1.8.16-41:1.8.16-51:1.8.17-1	None known
`libpdfbox-java` Debian:13	All versions, plus listed versions 1:1.8.16-51:1.8.17-1	None known
`libpdfbox-java` Debian:14	All versions, plus listed versions 1:1.8.16-51:1.8.17-1	None known
`libpdfbox2-java` Debian:12	before 2.0.24-1	2.0.24-1
`libpdfbox2-java` Debian:13	before 2.0.24-1	2.0.24-1
`libpdfbox2-java` Debian:14	before 2.0.24-1	2.0.24-1
`org.apache.pdfbox:pdfbox` Maven	2.0.0 up to 2.0.24, plus listed versions 2.0.12.0.102.0.112.0.122.0.13 Show 18 moreShow less 2.0.142.0.152.0.162.0.172.0.182.0.192.0.22.0.202.0.212.0.222.0.232.0.32.0.42.0.52.0.62.0.72.0.82.0.9	2.0.24
`org.apache.pdfbox:pdfbox-parent` Maven	2.0.0 up to 2.0.24, plus listed versions 2.0.12.0.102.0.112.0.122.0.13 Show 18 moreShow less 2.0.142.0.152.0.162.0.172.0.182.0.192.0.22.0.202.0.212.0.222.0.232.0.32.0.42.0.52.0.62.0.72.0.82.0.9	2.0.24

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Affected packages
Package	Affected	Fixed
`pdfbox` Mageia:8 From an advisory covering 2 CVEs	before 2.0.24-1.mga8	2.0.24-1.mga8
`pdfbox` openEuler:20.03-LTS-SP1 From an advisory covering 2 CVEs	before 2.0.24-1.oe1	2.0.24-1.oe1
`libpdfbox-java` Ubuntu:16.04:LTS	All versions, plus listed versions 1:1.8.7+dfsg-11:1.8.10-11:1.8.10-21:1.8.11+dfsg-1	None known
`libpdfbox-java` Ubuntu:18.04:LTS	All versions, plus listed versions 1:1.8.13-11:1.8.13-21:1.8.16-2~18.04	None known
`libpdfbox2-java` Ubuntu:18.04:LTS	All versions, plus listed versions 2.0.7-12.0.8-12.0.8-22.0.9-12.0.13-2~18.04	None known
`libpdfbox-java` Ubuntu:20.04:LTS	All versions, plus listed versions 1:1.8.16-2	None known
`libpdfbox2-java` Ubuntu:20.04:LTS	All versions, plus listed versions 2.0.16-12.0.17-12.0.18-1	None known
`libpdfbox-java` Ubuntu:22.04:LTS	All versions, plus listed versions 1:1.8.16-2	None known
`libpdfbox2-java` Ubuntu:22.04:LTS	All versions, plus listed versions 2.0.23-12.0.24-22.0.25-1	None known
`libpdfbox-java` Ubuntu:24.04:LTS	All versions, plus listed versions 1:1.8.16-41:1.8.16-5	None known
`libpdfbox2-java` Ubuntu:24.04:LTS	All versions, plus listed versions 2.0.27-22.0.29-1	None known
`libpdfbox-java` Ubuntu:25.10	All versions, plus listed versions 1:1.8.16-5	None known
`libpdfbox2-java` Ubuntu:25.10	All versions, plus listed versions 2.0.29-1	None known
`libpdfbox-java` Ubuntu:26.10	All versions, plus listed versions 1:1.8.16-5	None known
`libpdfbox2-java` Ubuntu:26.10	All versions, plus listed versions 2.0.29-1	None known
`libpdfbox-java` Ubuntu:26.04:LTS	All versions, plus listed versions 1:1.8.16-5	None known
`libpdfbox2-java` Ubuntu:26.04:LTS	All versions, plus listed versions 2.0.29-1	None known

History

History
Recorded	Changed	Sources
Nov 6, 2026	affected, facts
Nov 3, 2026	aliases	EUVD
Nov 2, 2026	first indexed	CVE List, GitHub Advisories, NVD, OSV

Dates are when Every CVE recorded each change. Upstream dates may differ.

In short

CVE-2021-31812 is a medium vulnerability (CVSS 5.5) in Apache Pdfbox, published June 12, 2021. No source lists public exploit code. EPSS puts the chance of exploitation in the next 30 days at 3.05%, the 87th percentile. Fixed in org.apache.pdfbox:pdfbox 2.0.24.

References

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