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CVE-2018-20551

A reachable Object::getString assertion in Poppler 0.72.0 allows attackers to cause a denial of...

6.5 MediumFix available

A reachable Object::getString assertion in Poppler 0.72.0 allows attackers to cause a denial of service due to construction of invalid rich media annotation assets in the AnnotRichMedia class in Annot.c.

Attack profile

How easy it is to exploit

Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges needed
None
User interaction
Required

What an attacker can affect

Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

Exploit likelihood

1.94%Up 0.6 points since Apr 14, 2021
90%50%10%1%

What each source reports

NVD Score used 6.5

A reachable Object::getString assertion in Poppler 0.72.0 allows attackers to cause a denial of service due to construction of invalid rich media annotation assets in the AnnotRichMedia class in Annot.c.

Record
CVE-2018-20551
CVSS 3.0
6.5 MediumCVSS:3.0/AV:N/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-20
Updated
2026-11-02
CVE List No score

A reachable Object::getString assertion in Poppler 0.72.0 allows attackers to cause a denial of service due to construction of invalid rich media annotation assets in the AnnotRichMedia class in Annot.c.

Record
CVE-2018-20551
Updated
2026-11-02
EUVDEUVD-2018-13105 No score

A reachable Object::getString assertion in Poppler 0.72.0 allows attackers to cause a denial of service due to construction of invalid rich media annotation assets in the AnnotRichMedia class in Annot.c.

Record
EUVD-2018-13105
Updated
2026-11-03
GitHub AdvisoriesGHSA-wv4m-6mw9-cjfg 6.5

A reachable Object::getString assertion in Poppler 0.72.0 allows attackers to cause a denial of...

A reachable Object::getString assertion in Poppler 0.72.0 allows attackers to cause a denial of service due to construction of invalid rich media annotation assets in the AnnotRichMedia class in Annot.c.

Record
GHSA-wv4m-6mw9-cjfg
CVSS 3.0
6.5 MediumCVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Weakness
CWE-20
Updated
2026-11-02
OSV 6.5

A reachable Object::getString assertion in Poppler 0.72.0 allows attackers to cause a denial of service due to construction of invalid rich media annotation assets in the AnnotRichMedia class in Annot.c.

Record
CVE-2018-20551
CVSS 3.0
6.5 MediumCVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Updated
2026-11-02
OSVDEBIAN-CVE-2018-20551 6.5

A reachable Object::getString assertion in Poppler 0.72.0 allows attackers to cause a denial of service due to construction of invalid rich media annotation assets in the AnnotRichMedia class in Annot.c.

Record
DEBIAN-CVE-2018-20551
CVSS 3.0
6.5 MediumCVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Updated
2026-11-02
Show 6 moreShow less
OSVRHSA-2019:2713 6.6

Red Hat Security Advisory: poppler security update

Record
RHSA-2019:2713
CVSS 3.0
6.6 MediumCVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:H
Updated
2026-11-02
OSVUBUNTU-CVE-2018-20551 6.5

A reachable Object::getString assertion in Poppler 0.72.0 allows attackers to cause a denial of service due to construction of invalid rich media annotation assets in the AnnotRichMedia class in Annot.c.

Record
UBUNTU-CVE-2018-20551
CVSS 3.0
6.5 MediumCVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Updated
2026-11-02
OSVMGASA-2019-0092 No score

Updated poppler packages fix security vulnerability

An issue was discovered in Poppler 0.71.0. There is a memory leak in GfxColorSpace::setDisplayProfile in GfxState.cc, as demonstrated by pdftocairo. (CVE-2018-18897)

XRef::getEntry in XRef.cc in Poppler 0.72.0 mishandles unallocated XRef entries, which allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (NULL pointer dereference) via a crafted PDF document, when XRefEntry::setFlag in XRef.h is called from Parser::makeStream in Parser.cc. (CVE-2018-20481)

A reachable Object::getString assertion in Poppler 0.72.0 allows attackers to cause a denial of service due to construction of invalid rich media annotation assets in the AnnotRichMedia class in Annot.c. (CVE-2018-20551)

A reachable Object::dictLookup assertion in Poppler 0.72.0 allows attackers to cause a denial of service due to the lack of a check for the dict data type, as demonstrated by use of the FileSpec class (in FileSpec.cc) in pdfdetach. (CVE-2018-20650)

In Poppler 0.73.0, a heap-based buffer over-read (due to an integer signedness error in the XRef::getEntry function in XRef.cc) allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (application crash) or possibly have unspecified other impact via a crafted PDF document, as demonstrated by pdftocairo. (CVE-2019-7310)

Record
MGASA-2019-0092
Updated
2026-11-02
OSVopenSUSE-SU-2021:3854-1 No score

Security update for poppler

This update for poppler fixes the following issues:

  • CVE-2017-18267: Fixed an infinite recursion that would allow remote attackers to cause a denial of service (bsc#1092945).
  • CVE-2018-13988: Added an improper implementation check which otherwise could allow buffer overflows, memory corruption, and denial of service (bsc#1102531).
  • CVE-2018-16646: Fixed an infinite recursion which could allow a denial-of-service attack via a specially crafted PDF file (bsc#1107597).
  • CVE-2018-18897: Fixed a memory leak (bsc#1114966).
  • CVE-2018-19058: Fixed a bug which could allow a denial-of-service attack via a specially crafted PDF file (bsc#1115187).
  • CVE-2018-19059: Fixed an out-of-bounds read access which could allow a denial-of-service attack (bsc#1115186).
  • CVE-2018-19060: Fixed a NULL pointer dereference which could allow a denial-of-service attack (bsc#1115185).
  • CVE-2018-19149: Fixed a NULL pointer dereference which could allow a denial-of-service attack (bsc#1115626).
  • CVE-2018-20481: Fixed a NULL pointer dereference while handling unallocated XRef entries which could allow a denial-of-service attack (bsc#1120495).
  • CVE-2018-20551: Fixed a reachable assertion which could allow a denial-of-service attack through specially crafted PDF files (bsc#1120496).
  • CVE-2018-20650: Fixed a reachable assertion which could allow denial-of-service through specially crafted PDF files (bsc#1120939).
  • CVE-2018-20662: Fixed a bug which could potentially crash the running process by SIGABRT resulting in a denial-of-service attack through a specially crafted PDF file (bsc#1120956).
  • CVE-2019-10871: Fixed a heap-based buffer over-read in the function PSOutputDev::checkPageSlice at PSOutputDev.cc (bsc#1131696).
  • CVE-2019-10872: Fixed a heap-based buffer over-read in the function Splash::blitTransparent at splash/Splash.cc (bsc#1131722).
  • CVE-2019-14494: Fixed a divide-by-zero error in the function SplashOutputDev::tilingPatternFill (bsc#1143950).
  • CVE-2019-7310: Fixed a heap-based buffer over-read (due to an integer signedness error in the XRef::getEntry function in XRef.cc) that allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service or possibly have unspecified other impact via a crafted PDF document (bsc#1124150).
  • CVE-2019-9200: Fixed a heap-based buffer underwrite which could allow denial-of-service attack through a specially crafted PDF file (bsc#1127329)
  • CVE-2019-9631: Fixed a heap-based buffer over-read in the CairoRescaleBox.cc downsample_row_box_filter function (bsc#1129202).
  • CVE-2019-9903: Fixed excessive stack consumption in the Dict::find() method, which can be triggered by passing a crafted pdf file to the pdfunite binary (bsc#1130229).
  • CVE-2019-9959: Fixed integer overflow that made it possible to allocate a large memory chunk on the heap with a size controlled by an attacker (bsc#1142465).
  • CVE-2020-27778: Fixed buffer overflow vulnerability in pdftohtml (bsc#1179163).
Record
openSUSE-SU-2021:3854-1
Updated
2026-11-02
OSVSUSE-SU-2021:3854-1 No score

Security update for poppler

This update for poppler fixes the following issues:

  • CVE-2017-18267: Fixed an infinite recursion that would allow remote attackers to cause a denial of service (bsc#1092945).
  • CVE-2018-13988: Added an improper implementation check which otherwise could allow buffer overflows, memory corruption, and denial of service (bsc#1102531).
  • CVE-2018-16646: Fixed an infinite recursion which could allow a denial-of-service attack via a specially crafted PDF file (bsc#1107597).
  • CVE-2018-18897: Fixed a memory leak (bsc#1114966).
  • CVE-2018-19058: Fixed a bug which could allow a denial-of-service attack via a specially crafted PDF file (bsc#1115187).
  • CVE-2018-19059: Fixed an out-of-bounds read access which could allow a denial-of-service attack (bsc#1115186).
  • CVE-2018-19060: Fixed a NULL pointer dereference which could allow a denial-of-service attack (bsc#1115185).
  • CVE-2018-19149: Fixed a NULL pointer dereference which could allow a denial-of-service attack (bsc#1115626).
  • CVE-2018-20481: Fixed a NULL pointer dereference while handling unallocated XRef entries which could allow a denial-of-service attack (bsc#1120495).
  • CVE-2018-20551: Fixed a reachable assertion which could allow a denial-of-service attack through specially crafted PDF files (bsc#1120496).
  • CVE-2018-20650: Fixed a reachable assertion which could allow denial-of-service through specially crafted PDF files (bsc#1120939).
  • CVE-2018-20662: Fixed a bug which could potentially crash the running process by SIGABRT resulting in a denial-of-service attack through a specially crafted PDF file (bsc#1120956).
  • CVE-2019-10871: Fixed a heap-based buffer over-read in the function PSOutputDev::checkPageSlice at PSOutputDev.cc (bsc#1131696).
  • CVE-2019-10872: Fixed a heap-based buffer over-read in the function Splash::blitTransparent at splash/Splash.cc (bsc#1131722).
  • CVE-2019-14494: Fixed a divide-by-zero error in the function SplashOutputDev::tilingPatternFill (bsc#1143950).
  • CVE-2019-7310: Fixed a heap-based buffer over-read (due to an integer signedness error in the XRef::getEntry function in XRef.cc) that allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service or possibly have unspecified other impact via a crafted PDF document (bsc#1124150).
  • CVE-2019-9200: Fixed a heap-based buffer underwrite which could allow denial-of-service attack through a specially crafted PDF file (bsc#1127329)
  • CVE-2019-9631: Fixed a heap-based buffer over-read in the CairoRescaleBox.cc downsample_row_box_filter function (bsc#1129202).
  • CVE-2019-9903: Fixed excessive stack consumption in the Dict::find() method, which can be triggered by passing a crafted pdf file to the pdfunite binary (bsc#1130229).
  • CVE-2019-9959: Fixed integer overflow that made it possible to allocate a large memory chunk on the heap with a size controlled by an attacker (bsc#1142465).
  • CVE-2020-27778: Fixed buffer overflow vulnerability in pdftohtml (bsc#1179163).
Record
SUSE-SU-2021:3854-1
Updated
2026-11-02
OSVUSN-3886-1 No score

poppler vulnerabilities

It was discovered that poppler incorrectly handled certain PDF files. An attacker could possibly use this issue to cause a denial of service. (CVE-2018-20551, CVE-2019-7310)

Record
USN-3886-1
Updated
2026-11-02

Affected products

Affected packages

Affected packages
PackageAffectedFixed
poppler
Debian:12
 before 0.71.0-4
0.71.0-4
poppler
Debian:13
 before 0.71.0-4
0.71.0-4
poppler
Debian:14
 before 0.71.0-4
0.71.0-4
poppler
Mageia:6
From an advisory covering 5 CVEs
 before 0.52.0-3.11.mga6
0.52.0-3.11.mga6
poppler
Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream
From an advisory covering 12 CVEs
 before 0:0.66.0-11.el8_0.12
0:0.66.0-11.el8_0.12
poppler-cpp-debuginfo
Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream
From an advisory covering 12 CVEs
 before 0:0.66.0-11.el8_0.12
0:0.66.0-11.el8_0.12
poppler-debuginfo
Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream
From an advisory covering 12 CVEs
 before 0:0.66.0-11.el8_0.12
0:0.66.0-11.el8_0.12
poppler-debugsource
Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream
From an advisory covering 12 CVEs
 before 0:0.66.0-11.el8_0.12
0:0.66.0-11.el8_0.12
poppler-glib
Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream
From an advisory covering 12 CVEs
 before 0:0.66.0-11.el8_0.12
0:0.66.0-11.el8_0.12
poppler-glib-debuginfo
Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream
From an advisory covering 12 CVEs
 before 0:0.66.0-11.el8_0.12
0:0.66.0-11.el8_0.12
Show 32 moreShow less
Affected packages
PackageAffectedFixed
poppler-qt5-debuginfo
Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream
From an advisory covering 12 CVEs
 before 0:0.66.0-11.el8_0.12
0:0.66.0-11.el8_0.12
poppler-utils
Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream
From an advisory covering 12 CVEs
 before 0:0.66.0-11.el8_0.12
0:0.66.0-11.el8_0.12
poppler-utils-debuginfo
Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream
From an advisory covering 12 CVEs
 before 0:0.66.0-11.el8_0.12
0:0.66.0-11.el8_0.12
poppler-cpp
Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::crb
From an advisory covering 12 CVEs
 before 0:0.66.0-11.el8_0.12
0:0.66.0-11.el8_0.12
poppler-cpp-debuginfo
Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::crb
From an advisory covering 12 CVEs
 before 0:0.66.0-11.el8_0.12
0:0.66.0-11.el8_0.12
poppler-cpp-devel
Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::crb
From an advisory covering 12 CVEs
 before 0:0.66.0-11.el8_0.12
0:0.66.0-11.el8_0.12
poppler-debuginfo
Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::crb
From an advisory covering 12 CVEs
 before 0:0.66.0-11.el8_0.12
0:0.66.0-11.el8_0.12
poppler-debugsource
Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::crb
From an advisory covering 12 CVEs
 before 0:0.66.0-11.el8_0.12
0:0.66.0-11.el8_0.12
poppler-devel
Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::crb
From an advisory covering 12 CVEs
 before 0:0.66.0-11.el8_0.12
0:0.66.0-11.el8_0.12
poppler-glib-debuginfo
Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::crb
From an advisory covering 12 CVEs
 before 0:0.66.0-11.el8_0.12
0:0.66.0-11.el8_0.12
poppler-glib-devel
Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::crb
From an advisory covering 12 CVEs
 before 0:0.66.0-11.el8_0.12
0:0.66.0-11.el8_0.12
poppler-qt5
Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::crb
From an advisory covering 12 CVEs
 before 0:0.66.0-11.el8_0.12
0:0.66.0-11.el8_0.12
poppler-qt5-debuginfo
Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::crb
From an advisory covering 12 CVEs
 before 0:0.66.0-11.el8_0.12
0:0.66.0-11.el8_0.12
poppler-qt5-devel
Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::crb
From an advisory covering 12 CVEs
 before 0:0.66.0-11.el8_0.12
0:0.66.0-11.el8_0.12
poppler-utils-debuginfo
Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::crb
From an advisory covering 12 CVEs
 before 0:0.66.0-11.el8_0.12
0:0.66.0-11.el8_0.12
poppler
SUSE:Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15-ESPOS
From an advisory covering 21 CVEs
 before 0.62.0-4.6.1
0.62.0-4.6.1
poppler
SUSE:Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15-LTSS
From an advisory covering 21 CVEs
 before 0.62.0-4.6.1
0.62.0-4.6.1
poppler
SUSE:Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP1-ESPOS
From an advisory covering 21 CVEs
 before 0.62.0-4.6.1
0.62.0-4.6.1
poppler
SUSE:Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP1-LTSS
From an advisory covering 21 CVEs
 before 0.62.0-4.6.1
0.62.0-4.6.1
poppler
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server 15-LTSS
From an advisory covering 21 CVEs
 before 0.62.0-4.6.1
0.62.0-4.6.1
poppler
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP1-BCL
From an advisory covering 21 CVEs
 before 0.62.0-4.6.1
0.62.0-4.6.1
poppler
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP1-LTSS
From an advisory covering 21 CVEs
 before 0.62.0-4.6.1
0.62.0-4.6.1
poppler
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 15
From an advisory covering 21 CVEs
 before 0.62.0-4.6.1
0.62.0-4.6.1
poppler
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 15 SP1
From an advisory covering 21 CVEs
 before 0.62.0-4.6.1
0.62.0-4.6.1
poppler
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Workstation Extension 15 SP2
From an advisory covering 21 CVEs
 before 0.62.0-4.6.1
0.62.0-4.6.1
poppler
SUSE:Enterprise Storage 6
From an advisory covering 21 CVEs
 before 0.62.0-4.6.1
0.62.0-4.6.1
poppler
Ubuntu:16.04:LTS
 before 0.41.0-0ubuntu1.12, plus listed versions
0.33.0-0ubuntu30.37.0-0ubuntu10.38.0-0ubuntu10.41.0-0ubuntu10.41.0-0ubuntu1.1
Show 10 moreShow less
0.41.0-0ubuntu1.20.41.0-0ubuntu1.30.41.0-0ubuntu1.40.41.0-0ubuntu1.50.41.0-0ubuntu1.60.41.0-0ubuntu1.70.41.0-0ubuntu1.80.41.0-0ubuntu1.90.41.0-0ubuntu1.100.41.0-0ubuntu1.11
0.41.0-0ubuntu1.12
poppler
Ubuntu:18.04:LTS
 before 0.62.0-2ubuntu2.7, plus listed versions
0.57.0-2ubuntu40.57.0-2ubuntu50.62.0-1ubuntu10.62.0-2ubuntu10.62.0-2ubuntu2
Show 5 moreShow less
0.62.0-2ubuntu2.10.62.0-2ubuntu2.20.62.0-2ubuntu2.40.62.0-2ubuntu2.50.62.0-2ubuntu2.6
0.62.0-2ubuntu2.7
poppler
Ubuntu:14.04:LTS
From an advisory covering 2 CVEs
 before 0.24.5-2ubuntu4.16, plus listed versions
0.24.1-0ubuntu10.24.3-0ubuntu10.24.3-0ubuntu20.24.3-0ubuntu30.24.3-0ubuntu4
Show 24 moreShow less
0.24.3-0ubuntu50.24.3-0ubuntu60.24.3-0ubuntu70.24.3-0ubuntu80.24.3-0ubuntu100.24.3-0ubuntu120.24.5-0ubuntu30.24.5-2ubuntu10.24.5-2ubuntu20.24.5-2ubuntu40.24.5-2ubuntu4.10.24.5-2ubuntu4.20.24.5-2ubuntu4.30.24.5-2ubuntu4.40.24.5-2ubuntu4.50.24.5-2ubuntu4.60.24.5-2ubuntu4.70.24.5-2ubuntu4.80.24.5-2ubuntu4.90.24.5-2ubuntu4.110.24.5-2ubuntu4.120.24.5-2ubuntu4.130.24.5-2ubuntu4.140.24.5-2ubuntu4.15
0.24.5-2ubuntu4.16
poppler
Ubuntu:16.04:LTS
From an advisory covering 2 CVEs
 before 0.41.0-0ubuntu1.12, plus listed versions
0.33.0-0ubuntu30.37.0-0ubuntu10.38.0-0ubuntu10.41.0-0ubuntu10.41.0-0ubuntu1.1
Show 10 moreShow less
0.41.0-0ubuntu1.20.41.0-0ubuntu1.30.41.0-0ubuntu1.40.41.0-0ubuntu1.50.41.0-0ubuntu1.60.41.0-0ubuntu1.70.41.0-0ubuntu1.80.41.0-0ubuntu1.90.41.0-0ubuntu1.100.41.0-0ubuntu1.11
0.41.0-0ubuntu1.12
poppler
Ubuntu:18.04:LTS
From an advisory covering 2 CVEs
 before 0.62.0-2ubuntu2.7, plus listed versions
0.57.0-2ubuntu40.57.0-2ubuntu50.62.0-1ubuntu10.62.0-2ubuntu10.62.0-2ubuntu2
Show 5 moreShow less
0.62.0-2ubuntu2.10.62.0-2ubuntu2.20.62.0-2ubuntu2.40.62.0-2ubuntu2.50.62.0-2ubuntu2.6
0.62.0-2ubuntu2.7
poppler
openSUSE:Leap 15.3
From an advisory covering 21 CVEs
 before 0.62.0-4.6.1
0.62.0-4.6.1

History

History
RecordedChangedSources
affected, facts
aliasesEUVD
first indexedCVE List, GitHub Advisories, NVD, OSV

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

In short

CVE-2018-20551 is a medium vulnerability (CVSS 6.5) in Freedesktop Poppler, published December 28, 2018. No source lists public exploit code. EPSS puts the chance of exploitation in the next 30 days at 1.94%, the 80th percentile. Fixed in poppler 0.71.0-4.

References

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