CVE-2023-3436
Deadlock in Xpdf 4.04 due to PDF object stream references
Xpdf 4.04 will deadlock on a PDF object stream whose "Length" field is itself in another object stream.
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
- Low
Exploit likelihood
What each source reports
CVE List Score used
Deadlock in Xpdf 4.04 due to PDF object stream references
Xpdf 4.04 will deadlock on a PDF object stream whose "Length" field is itself in another object stream.
- Record
CVE-2023-3436- CVSS 3.1
- 3.3 Low
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L - Weakness
- CWE-833
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
EUVDEUVD-2023-44100
Xpdf 4.04 will deadlock on a PDF object stream whose "Length" field is itself in another object stream.
- Record
EUVD-2023-44100- CVSS 3.1
- 3.3 Low
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L - Updated
- 2026-11-03
GitHub AdvisoriesGHSA-whpq-78mq-qcj6
Xpdf 4.04 will deadlock on a PDF object stream whose "Length" field is itself in another object...
Xpdf 4.04 will deadlock on a PDF object stream whose "Length" field is itself in another object stream.
- Record
GHSA-whpq-78mq-qcj6- CVSS 3.1
- 3.3 Low
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L - Weakness
- CWE-667, CWE-833
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
NVD
Xpdf 4.04 will deadlock on a PDF object stream whose "Length" field is itself in another object stream.
- Record
CVE-2023-3436- CVSS 3.1
- 3.3 Low
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L - Weakness
- CWE-833, CWE-667
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVALPINE-CVE-2023-3436
Xpdf 4.04 will deadlock on a PDF object stream whose "Length" field is itself in another object stream.
- Record
ALPINE-CVE-2023-3436- CVSS 3.1
- 3.3 Low
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L - Updated
- 2026-11-03
OSVUBUNTU-CVE-2023-3436
Xpdf 4.04 will deadlock on a PDF object stream whose "Length" field is itself in another object stream.
- Record
UBUNTU-CVE-2023-3436- CVSS 3.1
- 3.3 Low
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L - Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVMGASA-2024-0035 No score
Updated xpdf packages fix security vulnerabilities
The updated packages fix security vulnerabilities: Logic bug in text extractor led to invalid memory access. (CVE-2022-30524) Integer overflow in rasterizer. (CVE-2022-30775) PDF object loop in Catalog::countPageTree. (CVE-2022-33108) PDF object loop in AcroForm::scanField. (CVE-2022-36561) Logic bug in JBIG2 decoder. (CVE-2022-38222) PDF object loop in Catalog::countPageTree. (CVE-2022-38334) Missing bounds check in CFF font converter caused null pointer dereference. (CVE-2022-38928) PDF object loop in Catalog::countPageTree. (CVE-2022-41842) Missing bounds check in CFF font parser caused invalid memory access. (CVE-2022-41843) PDF object loop in AcroForm::scanField. (CVE-2022-41844) PDF object loop in Catalog::readPageLabelTree2. (CVE-2022-43071) PDF object loop in Catalog::countPageTree. (CVE-2022-43295) PDF object loop in Catalog::countPageTree. (CVE-2022-45586) PDF object loop in Catalog::countPageTree. (CVE-2022-45587) Divide-by-zero in Xpdf 4.04 due to bad color space object. (CVE-2023-2662) PDF object loop in Catalog::readPageLabelTree2. (CVE-2023-2663) PDF object loop in Catalog::readEmbeddedFileTree. (CVE-2023-2664) Divide-by-zero in Xpdf 4.04 due to very large page size. (CVE-2023-3044) Deadlock in Xpdf 4.04 due to PDF object stream references. (CVE-2023-3436)
- Record
MGASA-2024-0035- Updated
- 2026-11-02
Affected products
Affected packages
| Package | Affected | Fixed |
|---|---|---|
xpdfAlpine:v3.19 |
before 4.05-r0 | 4.05-r0 |
xpdfAlpine:v3.20 |
before 4.05-r0 | 4.05-r0 |
xpdfAlpine:v3.21 |
before 4.05-r0 | 4.05-r0 |
xpdfAlpine:v3.22 |
before 4.05-r0 | 4.05-r0 |
xpdfAlpine:v3.23 |
before 4.05-r0 | 4.05-r0 |
xpdfAlpine:v3.24 |
before 4.05-r0 | 4.05-r0 |
xpdfMageia:9 From an advisory covering 19 CVEs |
before 4.05-1.mga9 | 4.05-1.mga9 |
ipeUbuntu:16.04:LTS |
All versions, plus listed versions 7.1.4-2.17.1.8-17.1.10-17.1.10-1.1 |
None known |
xpdfUbuntu:16.04:LTS |
All versions, plus listed versions 3.03-17ubuntu23.03-17ubuntu33.03-17ubuntu53.03-183.04-13.04-1build13.04-1ubuntu13.04-1ubuntu1.1 |
None known |
ipeUbuntu:18.04:LTS |
All versions, plus listed versions 7.2.7-27.2.7-3 |
None known |
Show 12 moreShow less
| Package | Affected | Fixed |
|---|---|---|
xpdfUbuntu:18.04:LTS |
All versions, plus listed versions 3.04-4build13.04-53.04-5ubuntu23.04-6ubuntu13.04-7 |
None known |
ipeUbuntu:20.04:LTS |
All versions, plus listed versions 7.2.9-17.2.13-27.2.13-2build1 |
None known |
ipeUbuntu:22.04:LTS |
All versions, plus listed versions 7.2.23+dfsg1-27.2.24+dfsg1-17.2.24+dfsg1-1build1 |
None known |
xpdfUbuntu:22.04:LTS |
All versions, plus listed versions 3.04+git20210103-3build13.04+git20211021-13.04+git20211021-1ubuntu13.04+git20220201-1 |
None known |
ipeUbuntu:24.04:LTS |
All versions, plus listed versions 7.2.27+dfsg1-27.2.28-27.2.28-2.1build27.2.28-2.1build37.2.28-2.1build4 |
None known |
xpdfUbuntu:24.04:LTS |
All versions, plus listed versions 3.04+git20220601-1ubuntu13.04+git20220601-1ubuntu23.04+git20231213-13.04+git20240118-13.04+git20240124-1 Show 4 moreShow less3.04+git20240202-13.04+git20240202-1build13.04+git20240202-1build23.04+git20240202-1build3 |
None known |
ipeUbuntu:25.10 |
All versions, plus listed versions 7.2.30-1build1 |
None known |
xpdfUbuntu:25.10 |
All versions, plus listed versions 3.04+git20250304-1 |
None known |
ipeUbuntu:26.10 |
All versions, plus listed versions 7.2.30-1build27.2.30-2 |
None known |
xpdfUbuntu:26.10 |
All versions, plus listed versions 3.04+git20260220-13.04+git20260220-1ubuntu13.04+git20260802-1 |
None known |
ipeUbuntu:26.04:LTS |
All versions, plus listed versions 7.2.30-1build17.2.30-1build2 |
None known |
xpdfUbuntu:26.04:LTS |
All versions, plus listed versions 3.04+git20250304-13.04+git20250304-1build13.04+git20260220-1 |
None known |
History
| Recorded | Changed | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| affected, facts | ||
| affected, aliases, references | OSV | |
| aliases, published | EUVD | |
| first indexed | CVE List, GitHub Advisories, NVD, OSV |
Dates are when Every CVE recorded each change. Upstream dates may differ.
In short
CVE-2023-3436 is a low vulnerability (CVSS 3.3) in Xpdf, published June 27, 2023. No source lists public exploit code. EPSS puts the chance of exploitation in the next 30 days at 0.17%, the 6th percentile. Fixed in xpdf 4.05-r0.
References
forum.xpdfreader.com/viewtopic.php?t=42618
nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-3436
github.com/advisories/GHSA-whpq-78mq-qcj6
security.alpinelinux.org/vuln/CVE-2023-3436
advisories.mageia.org/MGASA-2024-0035.html
bugs.mageia.org/show_bug.cgi?id=30812
xpdfreader.com/security-fixes.html
ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2023-3436
cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-3436