CVE-2023-24813
URI validation failure on SVG parsing. Bypass of CVE-2023-23924
Dompdf is an HTML to PDF converter written in php. Due to the difference in the attribute parser of Dompdf and php-svg-lib, an attacker can still call arbitrary URLs with arbitrary protocols. Dompdf parses the href attribute of image tags and respects xlink:href even if href is specified. However, php-svg-lib, which is later used to parse the svg file, parses the href attribute. Since href is respected if both xlink:href and href is specified, it's possible to bypass the protection on the Dompdf side by providing an empty xlink:href attribute. An attacker can exploit the vulnerability to call arbitrary URLs with arbitrary protocols if they provide an SVG file to the Dompdf. In PHP versions before 8.0.0, it leads to arbitrary unserialize, which will lead, at the very least, to arbitrary file deletion and might lead to remote code execution, depending on available classes. This vulnerability has been addressed in commit 95009ea98 which has been included in release version 2.0.3. Users are advised to upgrade. There are no known workarounds for this vulnerability.
Attack profile
How easy it is to exploit
- Attack vector
- Network
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges needed
- None
- User interaction
- None
What an attacker can affect
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
Exploit likelihood
What each source reports
CVE List Score used
10.0
URI validation failure on SVG parsing. Bypass of CVE-2023-23924
Dompdf is an HTML to PDF converter written in php. Due to the difference in the attribute parser of Dompdf and php-svg-lib, an attacker can still call arbitrary URLs with arbitrary protocols. Dompdf parses the href attribute of image tags and respects xlink:href even if href is specified. However, php-svg-lib, which is later used to parse the svg file, parses the href attribute. Since href is respected if both xlink:href and href is specified, it's possible to bypass the protection on the Dompdf side by providing an empty xlink:href attribute. An attacker can exploit the vulnerability to call arbitrary URLs with arbitrary protocols if they provide an SVG file to the Dompdf. In PHP versions before 8.0.0, it leads to arbitrary unserialize, which will lead, at the very least, to arbitrary file deletion and might lead to remote code execution, depending on available classes. This vulnerability has been addressed in commit 95009ea98 which has been included in release version 2.0.3. Users are advised to upgrade. There are no known workarounds for this vulnerability.
- Record
CVE-2023-24813- CVSS 3.1
- 10.0 Critical
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H - Weakness
- CWE-436
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
EUVDEUVD-2023-0628
10.0
Dompdf is an HTML to PDF converter written in php. Due to the difference in the attribute parser of Dompdf and php-svg-lib, an attacker can still call arbitrary URLs with arbitrary protocols. Dompdf parses the href attribute of image tags and respects xlink:href even if href is specified. However, php-svg-lib, which is later used to parse the svg file, parses the href attribute. Since href is respected if both xlink:href and href is specified, it's possible to bypass the protection on the Dompdf side by providing an empty xlink:href attribute. An attacker can exploit the vulnerability to call arbitrary URLs with arbitrary protocols if they provide an SVG file to the Dompdf. In PHP versions before 8.0.0, it leads to arbitrary unserialize, which will lead, at the very least, to arbitrary file deletion and might lead to remote code execution, depending on available classes. This vulnerability has been addressed in commit 95009ea98 which has been included in release version 2.0.3. Users are advised to upgrade. There are no known workarounds for this vulnerability.
- Record
EUVD-2023-0628- CVSS 3.1
- 10.0 Critical
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H - Updated
- 2026-11-02
GitHub AdvisoriesGHSA-56gj-mvh6-rp75
10.0
URI validation failure on SVG parsing. Bypass of CVE-2023-23924
Summary
Due to the difference in the attribute parser of Dompdf and php-svg-lib, an attacker can still call arbitrary URLs with arbitrary protocols.
Details
Dompdf parses the href attribute of image tags with the following code:
src/Image/Cache.php line 135-150
function ($parser, $name, $attributes) use ($options, $parsed_url, $full_url) {
if (strtolower($name) === "image") {
$attributes = array_change_key_case($attributes, CASE_LOWER);
$url = $attributes["xlink:href"] ?? $attributes["href"];
if (!empty($url)) {
$inner_full_url = Helpers::build_url($parsed_url["protocol"], $parsed_url["host"], $parsed_url["path"], $url);
if ($inner_full_url === $full_url) {
throw new ImageException("SVG self-reference is not allowed", E_WARNING);
}
[$resolved_url, $type, $message] = self::resolve_url($url, $parsed_url["protocol"], $parsed_url["host"], $parsed_url["path"], $options);
if (!empty($message)) {
throw new ImageException("This SVG document references a restricted resource. $message", E_WARNING);
}
}
}
},
As you can see from the code snippet above, it respects xlink:href even if href is specified.
$url = $attributes["xlink:href"] ?? $attributes["href"];
However, php-svg-lib, which is later used to parse the svg file, parses the href attribute with the following code:
src/Svg/Tag/Image.php line 51-57
if (isset($attributes['xlink:href'])) {
$this->href = $attributes['xlink:href'];
}
if (isset($attributes['href'])) {
$this->href = $attributes['href'];
}
Since href is respected if both xlink:href and href is specified, it's possible to bypass the protection on the Dompdf side by providing an empty xlink:href attribute.
Impact
An attacker can exploit the vulnerability to call arbitrary URLs with arbitrary protocols if they provide an SVG file to the Dompdf. In PHP versions before 8.0.0, it leads to arbitrary unserialize, which will lead, at the very least, to arbitrary file deletion and might lead to remote code execution, depending on available classes.
- Record
GHSA-56gj-mvh6-rp75- CVSS 3.1
- 10.0 Critical
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H - Weakness
- CWE-436
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
NVD
10.0
Dompdf is an HTML to PDF converter written in php. Due to the difference in the attribute parser of Dompdf and php-svg-lib, an attacker can still call arbitrary URLs with arbitrary protocols. Dompdf parses the href attribute of image tags and respects xlink:href even if href is specified. However, php-svg-lib, which is later used to parse the svg file, parses the href attribute. Since href is respected if both xlink:href and href is specified, it's possible to bypass the protection on the Dompdf side by providing an empty xlink:href attribute. An attacker can exploit the vulnerability to call arbitrary URLs with arbitrary protocols if they provide an SVG file to the Dompdf. In PHP versions before 8.0.0, it leads to arbitrary unserialize, which will lead, at the very least, to arbitrary file deletion and might lead to remote code execution, depending on available classes. This vulnerability has been addressed in commit 95009ea98 which has been included in release version 2.0.3. Users are advised to upgrade. There are no known workarounds for this vulnerability.
- Record
CVE-2023-24813- CVSS 3.1
- 10.0 Critical
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H - CVSS 3.1
- 9.8 Critical
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H - Weakness
- CWE-436
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSV
10.0
URI validation failure on SVG parsing. Bypass of CVE-2023-23924
Dompdf is an HTML to PDF converter written in php. Due to the difference in the attribute parser of Dompdf and php-svg-lib, an attacker can still call arbitrary URLs with arbitrary protocols. Dompdf parses the href attribute of image tags and respects xlink:href even if href is specified. However, php-svg-lib, which is later used to parse the svg file, parses the href attribute. Since href is respected if both xlink:href and href is specified, it's possible to bypass the protection on the Dompdf side by providing an empty xlink:href attribute. An attacker can exploit the vulnerability to call arbitrary URLs with arbitrary protocols if they provide an SVG file to the Dompdf. In PHP versions before 8.0.0, it leads to arbitrary unserialize, which will lead, at the very least, to arbitrary file deletion and might lead to remote code execution, depending on available classes. This vulnerability has been addressed in commit 95009ea98 which has been included in release version 2.0.3. Users are advised to upgrade. There are no known workarounds for this vulnerability.
- Record
CVE-2023-24813- CVSS 3.1
- 10.0 Critical
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H - Weakness
- CWE-436
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVDEBIAN-CVE-2023-24813
9.8
Dompdf is an HTML to PDF converter written in php. Due to the difference in the attribute parser of Dompdf and php-svg-lib, an attacker can still call arbitrary URLs with arbitrary protocols. Dompdf parses the href attribute of image tags and respects xlink:href even if href is specified. However, php-svg-lib, which is later used to parse the svg file, parses the href attribute. Since href is respected if both xlink:href and href is specified, it's possible to bypass the protection on the Dompdf side by providing an empty xlink:href attribute. An attacker can exploit the vulnerability to call arbitrary URLs with arbitrary protocols if they provide an SVG file to the Dompdf. In PHP versions before 8.0.0, it leads to arbitrary unserialize, which will lead, at the very least, to arbitrary file deletion and might lead to remote code execution, depending on available classes. This vulnerability has been addressed in commit 95009ea98 which has been included in release version 2.0.3. Users are advised to upgrade. There are no known workarounds for this vulnerability.
- Record
DEBIAN-CVE-2023-24813- CVSS 3.1
- 9.8 Critical
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H - Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVGHSA-56gj-mvh6-rp75
10.0
URI validation failure on SVG parsing. Bypass of CVE-2023-23924
Summary
Due to the difference in the attribute parser of Dompdf and php-svg-lib, an attacker can still call arbitrary URLs with arbitrary protocols.
Details
Dompdf parses the href attribute of image tags with the following code:
src/Image/Cache.php line 135-150
function ($parser, $name, $attributes) use ($options, $parsed_url, $full_url) {
if (strtolower($name) === "image") {
$attributes = array_change_key_case($attributes, CASE_LOWER);
$url = $attributes["xlink:href"] ?? $attributes["href"];
if (!empty($url)) {
$inner_full_url = Helpers::build_url($parsed_url["protocol"], $parsed_url["host"], $parsed_url["path"], $url);
if ($inner_full_url === $full_url) {
throw new ImageException("SVG self-reference is not allowed", E_WARNING);
}
[$resolved_url, $type, $message] = self::resolve_url($url, $parsed_url["protocol"], $parsed_url["host"], $parsed_url["path"], $options);
if (!empty($message)) {
throw new ImageException("This SVG document references a restricted resource. $message", E_WARNING);
}
}
}
},
As you can see from the code snippet above, it respects xlink:href even if href is specified.
$url = $attributes["xlink:href"] ?? $attributes["href"];
However, php-svg-lib, which is later used to parse the svg file, parses the href attribute with the following code:
src/Svg/Tag/Image.php line 51-57
if (isset($attributes['xlink:href'])) {
$this->href = $attributes['xlink:href'];
}
if (isset($attributes['href'])) {
$this->href = $attributes['href'];
}
Since href is respected if both xlink:href and href is specified, it's possible to bypass the protection on the Dompdf side by providing an empty xlink:href attribute.
Impact
An attacker can exploit the vulnerability to call arbitrary URLs with arbitrary protocols if they provide an SVG file to the Dompdf. In PHP versions before 8.0.0, it leads to arbitrary unserialize, which will lead, at the very least, to arbitrary file deletion and might lead to remote code execution, depending on available classes.
- Record
GHSA-56gj-mvh6-rp75- CVSS 3.1
- 10.0 Critical
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H - Weakness
- CWE-436
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
Affected products
Affected packages
| Package | Affected | Fixed |
|---|---|---|
dompdf/dompdfPackagist |
2.0.2 to 2.0.2 | 2.0.3 |
php-dompdfDebian:12 |
before 2.0.3+dfsg-1 | 2.0.3+dfsg-1 |
dompdf/dompdfPackagist |
2.0.2 up to 2.0.3, plus listed versions v2.0.2 |
2.0.3 |
History
| Recorded | Changed | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| first indexed | CVE List, EUVD, GitHub Advisories, NVD, OSV |
Dates are when Every CVE recorded each change. Upstream dates may differ.
In short
CVE-2023-24813 is a critical vulnerability (CVSS 10.0) in Dompdf, published February 7, 2023. No source lists public exploit code. EPSS puts the chance of exploitation in the next 30 days at 2.49%, the 84th percentile. Fixed in dompdf/dompdf 2.0.3.
References
github.com/dompdf/dompdf/security/advisories/GHSA-56gj-mvh6-rp75
github.com/dompdf/dompdf/commit/95009ea98230f9b084b040c34e3869ef3dccc9aa
nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-24813
github.com/advisories/GHSA-56gj-mvh6-rp75
github.com/CVEProject/cvelistV5/tree/main/cves/2023/24xxx/CVE-2023-24813.json
security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2023-24813
github.com/dompdf/dompdf