Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
CVE-2018-11254 is a denial-of-service issue in PoDoFo 0.9.5. A crafted PDF can trigger excessive recursion while the library walks the PDF page tree, potentially crashing or exhausting resources in software that processes untrusted PDFs.
Executive priority
Treat this as an availability risk for systems that process untrusted PDFs. It is not presented as data theft or code execution, but it can disrupt document-dependent services if affected software remains exposed.
Technical view
The issue is reported in PdfPagesTree::GetPageNode() in PdfPagesTree.cpp. Recursive page-tree handling can become excessive when processing a malicious PDF, causing denial of service. The CVE notes it is related to CVE-2017-8054, but provides no CVSS, CWE, patch, or broader affected-version data.
Likely exposure
Exposure is most likely where PoDoFo 0.9.5 is embedded in services, desktop tools, or backend pipelines that accept PDFs from external users, email, uploads, or automated document feeds.
Exploitation context
The sources describe remote denial of service via a crafted PDF. They do not cite active exploitation, and the CVE is not listed as KEV in the provided bundle.
Researcher notes
Evidence is sparse: the CVE identifies PoDoFo 0.9.5 and the vulnerable function, but lacks CVSS, CWE, patch details, and complete affected-version boundaries. Avoid assuming versions beyond those named in the source bundle.
Mitigation direction
- Inventory systems and applications using PoDoFo 0.9.5.
- Check PoDoFo, OS vendor, and package maintainer guidance for fixed versions.
- Limit processing of untrusted PDFs where PoDoFo 0.9.5 is present.
- Apply resource limits around PDF processing services where feasible.
- Isolate PDF processing from critical application components.
Validation and detection
- Confirm whether PoDoFo 0.9.5 is installed or statically bundled.
- Map externally supplied PDF flows into PoDoFo-based processing paths.
- Review crash, timeout, and resource-exhaustion logs from PDF handling components.
- Check vendor advisories or package changelogs for remediation status.
- Prioritize validation on internet-facing upload or document ingestion services.
Public sources used
Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.
Conservative CVE-to-ATT&CK context
These mappings and lookup hints may be relevant to the vulnerability behavior, CWE, affected product, or exposure path. Glexia-inferred context is not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, CWE, or CVE Program mapping.
ATT&CK lookup starting points
Use these exact CWE pages and searches to review the Glexia ATT&CK library from this CVE's weakness and description context.
CVE-2018-11254 mapping review
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Open ATT&CK lookup- Severity
- Unknown
- CVSS
- Not scored
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
CNA and ADP enrichment extracted from CVE v5
These fields come from the CVE record and ADP containers, not from Glexia's Take. They preserve time-varying source decisions such as CISA SSVC, KEV status, CVSS metrics, and provider references.
CVSS and timeline data
No CVSS vectors or timeline events were available in the normalized CVE source material.
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1576174CVE reference · x_refsource_MISC
Products and packages named in the record
CWE details
CWE links open Glexia weakness intelligence pages with official CWE context, developer remediation guidance, and related CVE mappings.